Igor Petrinovic explains why the Greens should not be underestimated at the 2025 EuroLeague Final Four
2025 Final Four: The case for... Panathinaikos
Final Four
3 Mins read
A sign of a great team is knowing how to win. That means not just playing well and winning when things are clicking, but even more so, it means pulling out victories when not everything is going your way. The reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens checks all those boxes.
The defending champs obviously proved their greatness last season, but every campaign is a new story. With the expectation and goal of repeating their climb to the throne, the Greens showed on occasions during the regular season how dominant and seemingly unbeatable they can be.
However, what made Panathinaikos great is its fair share of bumps and obstacles along the way, which it managed to overcome to find its way to Abu Dhabi.
The injuries and the struggles
Coach Ergin Ataman's squad, with every single important piece of the championship team returning this season, had a slow start in October and November. They had just eight wins after 15 rounds to start the season and sat 10th place in the standing. Then came a gruesome leg injury to All-EuroLeague center and the team’s main source of energy, Mathias Lessort, to start the 2025 calendar year. Then Omer Yurtseven got injured, too, so the Greens had to bring in two centers – Wenyen Gabriel and Tibor Pleiss – just to have a big body in the paint.
But Panathinaikos got safely to the harbor thanks to EuroLeague MVP Kendrick Nunn taking the reins and putting on display some remarkable performances. Juancho Hernangomez had the best season of his career, while Kostas Sloukas was showing up in big games, the best of them being against Friday's semifinal opponent, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. With the likes of Jerian Grant, Cedi Osman, Gabriel and once recovered Yurtseven stepping up in their roles, the Greens guaranteed home-court advantage for the playoffs.
There, they showed more know-how against a gritty Anadolu Efes Istanbul, with Konstantinos Mitoglou stepping up alongside Nunn in a key Game 3, and Osman finishing the job with a career performance in Game 5.
Right where they want to be
So, Panathinaikos advanced to Abu Dhabi. Was it in impressive fashion? No. Was it dominant? No. Were there worries about the team’s lack of size behind Hernangomez? Absolutely. Were there doubts from outside looking in? Every step of the way.
But, Panathinaikos overcame it all.
And that is exactly what makes this team even more dangerous.
They had their injury problems. Their stars had off nights in important games. They had many games where they struggled offensively, or defensively, for great portions of the night.
Yet, they would produce big fourth-quarter comebacks. Their stars would ignite at just the right time. Players would step up to fill in for the injury absences.
And the Greens got back to the Final Four, where Coach Ataman confirmed to SKWEEK that they will be counting on the services of Mathias Lessort once again.
With or without the big man from Martinique, who wants to bet against the defending champ back at the Final Four, a place where it aimed to be all along?
Me neither.