THE Panathinaikos performed his worst performance this year, knowing a heavy defeat (92-75) by Virtus Bologna for its 6th matchday Euroleague.
After the impressive double at the home of Efes, Panathinaikos made a big setback, presenting a tragic face against Virtus Bologna. Fate the greens experienced the crash in Italy and they fell to 4-2.
Ergin Ataman’s team had significant absences (Holmes, Kalaitzakis, Samonturov, Lessor), played with two unprepared players (Rogavopoulos, Huatso), however this tragic picture is not justified for a powerful team that is one of the big favorites to win this year’s trophy.
The greens returned to the misspellings of previous games. They were tragic in defense, especially in the paint, they lost the battle of the rebounds (Virtus had 11 offensive ones), while they faced many problems in the attack as well.
Ataman’s players were unable to move the ball and create, finishing the game with 13 assists and 13 turnovers.
With these numbers, a Virtus crash is normal, with Ivanovic’s team coming in with a knife in their teeth early, throwing basketballs and finding huge gaps in the green defense from the start.
Kendrick Nunn didn’t help
For the second straight Euroleague game, Kendrick Nunn was not good. In Ephesus he was covered by his teammates, but today they were all below average.
The American guard was poor in the first half, was also charged with an unsportsmanlike foul in the third quarter and took a little lead when everything was decided.
However, he finished the game with 19 points, staying on the court more time (32 minutes) than all his teammates.
Ataman’s nerves
Ergin Ataman didn’t have a very good night either. The solutions he had, of course, in the high line were infinitesimal, but he did not manage to change the image of his team from the bench.
Instead, he couldn’t hold his nerve in the third quarter, getting ejected with two technical penalties in a matter of seconds.
Coaching for almost the entire second half was undertaken by his assistant, Christos Serelis, who is used to acting as the first coach at Panathinaikos, since the Turkish coach often goes to the locker room before the end of the games.