Dejan Radonjic, Panathinaikos: 'We had our best 20 minutes this season'

Panathinaikos Athens head coach Dejan Radonjic:
"First half was really bad played on both ends, with a lot of mistakes. After that, we had the best 20 minutes this season so far. For us, it was very important.
"Talking about the first 20 minutes, it was a lot of mistakes for us, both defensively and offensively. We gave up 11 rebounds under our basket and it was bad, our picture was bad. But then after that, it was an extraordinary defense and in offense, we played our best 20 minutes this season. Maybe we can think of how strange it was how we played the first half and how we changed things in the second, but I’m so happy because of these 20 minutes; the team spirit, the fight, the energy, the body language was really good. Of course, we need to be better next game, but we will see how the situation is with some players."
Zalgiris Kaunas head coach Kazys Maksvytis:
"I still don’t understand what happened in the second half. Everything starts from the third quarter when they score 37 points. Once they got hot, it was very hard to stop them, so we lost control and it cost us this win.
"Congratulations to Panathinaikos. It was a very strange game. I never lived something like this in my career; to have 15 points and to lose 62-23 the second. Even in kids' basketball, where I started my coaching career, I never saw numbers like these. We were soft, we got relaxed and stopped playing on both ends. Panathinaikos, play by play, minute by minute, started to play better, they got confidence and won this game."
Panathinaikos Athens guard Paris Lee:
"I think it was the defense [what happened to me in the second half]. When I was in the locker room I was just kind of like self-reflection and just wanted to come out and play hard. My defense got me started. For sure [it was a team effort]. We were asked for effort from the point guard and everybody just started following."
Panathinaikos Athens center Georgios Papagiannis:
"Honestly, I don’t know [what happened in the second half]. On offense we really passed the ball very good, way more than we used to do. And on defense, it was just a matter of doing the basic stuff. We had some problems in the beginning to limit some of their players, but in the second half, we did a better job on them. [The win] was crazy, it was tough but when you have good chemistry, and especially when the game is going good on defense, and you get some free shots on offense it is a great thing. We have to keep going for the rest of the journey."