The veteran center dominated in the paint as the Greens won a second straight road game
Faried provides the ‘medicine’ as Panathinaikos completes week with statement win
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 11 of 38
Regular Season
Real MadridRMB
7787
Panathinaikos AKTOR AthensPAO
Overview
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens kicked off the 2025-26 season with three top centers on its roster in Richaun Holmes, Mathias Lessort and Omer Yurtseven. Yet, luck has not been on its side, with Holmes and Yurtseven suffering respective injuries and the much-anticipated comeback of Lessort being postponed due to a setback.
The Greens looked under the weather in an 86-68 thrashing at the hands of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade last week, but the cure would come all the way from Taiwan in the form of Kenneth Faried.
The 35-year-old landed in Athens earlier this week and spent just one day practicing with his new teammates before hitting the road. Panathinaikos was desperate for an energy boost and Faried provided just that, taking the EuroLeague by storm in his first week as a PAO player.
After recording a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists away at Paris Basketball, Faried was dominant again in Panathinaikos’s 77-87 win at Real Madrid, this time against Edy Tavares – one of the finest bigs in EuroLeague history.
“Our management did a great job of finding Kenneth Faried,” Ergin Ataman told EuroLeague TV after the game. “He was like a medicine for us, because in the games that we lost, we played without centers. It’s very difficult to play with only [Konstantinos] Mitoglou on the 5. With Faried, we found the aggressiveness on defense and on offense, we found the balance on the boards and offensive rebounds. I think he was the key for this mental change and now the team is more comfortable and we feel much better.”
Faried did everything on the floor, producing a Lessort-esque outing on Thursday night. He went 6-for-8 from inside the arc and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line to end the game on 16 points, including back-to-back monster dunks in front of Tavares.
“[This last week has been a] rollercoaster,” Faried admitted on EuroLeague TV. “I flew in from Taiwan to Greece. Got a practice there with my teammates. Next thing I know, I’m playing two EuroLeague games now, and we won both, so it’s a happy moment.”
He also grabbed 8 rebounds, 4 of which were on the offensive end to provide his team with valuable extra possessions.
“For me, as a basketball player and just as an individual, I try to work my tail off every day and just try to stay in the best shape,” he added. “Trying to showcase that it doesn’t matter your height, it doesn’t matter how old you are even. If you can still play this game, you can still play this game.”
Faried was assisted on the court by a sublime TJ Shorts, who pulled off his finest performance in a green shirt. Following a slow start to his spell in Greece, the Panathinaikos guard ended the game on a season-high 19 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
“Slowly finding my rhythm, slowly finding my place,” Shorts said after the game. “Like I said earlier in Paris, gaining the trust of the coach and taking steps in that direction. And this is the result.”
Coming into the double-round week on the back of three straight road losses, Panathinaikos received a huge boost in morale by grabbing a statement victory over a fellow title contender. The Greens tightened up their defense and conceded the fewest points they've allowed in a EuroLeague game this season away at a Real Madrid side that had won all of its first five home games of the campaign.
“[Winning two road games in a double-round week] is huge,” Shorts noted. “It’s a confidence booster. It shows that we can play at the highest level when we are focused. Playing obviously against a very experienced team, a very great team in a hostile environment. And being able to pull out a win on the back half of the double week is huge for our confidence going forward.”
With Faried and Shorts bringing in the energy, Panathinaikos improved its record to 7-4. And taking into account that all its next three games are set to take place at Telekom Center Athens, Ataman’s team has what it needs to keep its momentum going.
