Increasingly confident Panathinaikos (6-4) will look to extend its four-game winning run with a trip to Partizan (4-6), which has struggled for consistency in failing to win two consecutive games all season.
Zeljko Obradovic, Partizan: 'Panathinaikos is always a special game for me'
Seasons
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 11 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Partizan big man Frank Kaminsky enjoyed a breakout game with 24 points in last week's narrow loss against Efes, and he will look to continue that form as he faces the tough task of bettering all-action former Partizan star Mathias Lessort, who has averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds during the Greens' winning streak. It should be a high-scoring game between the second and fifth-highest scoring teams in the league, with prominent roles likely for in-form forwards James Nunnally (13.3 ppg., 3.9 rpg.) and Dinos Mitoglou (17.3 ppg., 6.1 rpg.).
Zeljko Obradovic, Partizan head coach
"Panathinaikos is always a special game for me when we play against them. The reasons are well known. They are the team that has the highest possible ambitions, they made such a roster and all the people from the club, starting from the coach, say that their ambitions are to reach at least the Final Four. So we are aware of who we are playing against, they are a very good team, they had minor problems at the beginning of the season, now they play very well, smart, they control the game and we will have to play a very good game if we want to achieve a positive result."
Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos head coach
"This is the EuroLeague, many strong teams have come to OAKA to play a rough game, and now it's our turn to play one of those games on the road. It's a difficult arena, but we havethe capabilities and we can manage to play in those situations. The most important thing is how we can implement our strategy on the court. Partizan is a very good team with a great coach like Zeljko, but so far they seem to be having some problems, especially in the last games. But we know that they missed Punter, an important player who will play against us. It will be a tough game, I hope we do not suffer injuries before the game."
Alen Smailagic, Partizan player
"Panathinaikos is a very strong team, they have very good players. One of them was with us, that's Mathias, whom we can't wait to see again. Ioannis is not coming due to injury. The match will be very good. There will be a lot of fans, it will be interesting to play, especially after such a victory against Borac. We feel good, we feel beautiful, our trainings are going well. We will see what happens tomorrow, we will do our best, and try to win. We will try to improve our defense because we have been the weakest in that segment so far."
Dinos Mitoglou, Panathinaikos player
"Partizan is a very physical team, very strong with good players, an excellent coach and a tough arena. It will be a very difficult game for us. We must present ourselves ready to face the difficulties. We want the victory to finish the month well and continue to saw a good picture as a team. There is no fear. We are blessed to be playing at this level and happy to compete in venues like this. This is good for basketball. We should be happy as professionals that there are such seats. That's basketball."