The Greens are arguably the most in-form team in the EuroLeague.
Red-hot Panathinaikos grabbed a statement win against Monaco
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When Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens began the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague campaign with three defeats in its first four games, including an overtime home loss at the hands of fierce rivals Olympiacos Piraeus in the opening round, many believed that the team might need time to gel after bringing in numerous new players in the summer.
Fast-forward to the end of Round 21 and it's clear the Greens’ growth under two-time EuroLeague champion head coach Ergin Ataman is starting to bear fruit, with the side having secured some morale-boosting victories and recently cemented itself in the top four of the standings.
Panathinaikos is on fire
In fact, Coach Ataman’s squad is one of the most in-form teams in the competition, having won seven of its last eight games and each of its last three at OAKA. In fact, its only loss in that spell came thanks to a late game-winning jumper from Codi Miller-McIntyre at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in a clash where the hosts rallied from 17 points in the third quarter to beat Panathinaikos 75-73.
A Kostas Sloukas-less PAO went on to grab an 81-82 victory at Valencia Basket before winning both of its games in this double-round week: first against Anadolu Efes Istanbul and then against AS Monaco.
“I feel like everything is coming together for us right now,” Kendrick Nunn, who netted 21 points against Monaco, stated after Thursday’s contest. “We’re gelling very well on both ends of the floor.
“We played together on defense and helped each other out on offense. Both ends are working well right now. We’re doing a lot of communicating in the locker room about coverages, about what we should be doing out there. That’s the most important [aspect] and that’s what brings us together.”
‘It’s showtime at OAKA’
Head coach Ergin Ataman has led his troops to their third home win in a row, having turned OAKA into a fortress. This was Panathinaikos’s eighth home victory in 11 games, having beaten Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, Efes and Monaco by 17, 16 and 25 points, respectively, in its last three fixtures in Athens.
“When you play such great defense like we did in the last two games, in the first game against [Shane] Larkin and in this game against Mike James, because these two players are the best offensive players in the EuroLeague, you have more motivation for the offense,” Ataman said in the flash interview after the game.
“Once again, we showed that it’s showtime at OAKA. We’ll see what happens, but we have great goals and we showed tonight that we have the capacity to be able to reach our goals.”
In the offseason, Panathinaikos made some big signings and lured Ataman to Athens as the Greens looked to become a force once again. Ataman has stated on several occasions that his main objective is to lead his team all the way to EuroLeague glory and Panathinaikos has demonstrated that it is taking important steps towards its goal, having improved significantly over the last couple of months.
Back in Round 15, it took a Marius Grigonis buzzer-beating triple to edge past Monaco 90-91 on the road. Just six rounds later, the two teams met again. This time, Panathinaikos wiped the floor with the Monegasques in an 88-63 beatdown.
“I think that tonight Panathinaikos showed its quality and showed that it is able to achieve all its big goals with this mentality and this atmosphere that we create with our fans at OAKA,” Ataman commented in the post-game press conference.
Next week, Panathinaikos will host its former coach, Zeljko Obradovic, in what will be the Greens’ third straight game at OAKA. The man who led PAO to its last Final Four in 2012 will be back in Athens, where he is expected to receive a huge ovation from the fans.
Meanwhile, on the court, Panathinaikos will be eyeing its fourth consecutive home victory as it attempts to show the rest of the EuroLeague that it should be considered a legitimate Final Four contender.