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Stefanos Makris analyzes with the help of Hudl Instat the victory of Panathinaikos AKTOR over Maccabi. Lessor who kept the “greens” in the match, the six minutes of… defensive terror with the Huachos, Osman on the floor and Nan.
THE Panathinaikos AKTOR struggled against Maccabi, but finally managed to get the victory with 93-87 for the 9th game of the EuroLeague.
The SPORT24 analyzes with the help of Hudl Instat the victory of the “greens”.
The defensive five that brought the solution to Maccabi’s Pick and Roll and the 6 minutes of terror
Panathinaikos AKTOR found it dark against Maccabi. The Israelis constantly played with two operators, while the fact that they have tall players who play Pick and Roll well (Sorkin and Gabriel) had the effect of exposing the – for several periods – lukewarm defense of the “cloverleaf” in such a situation. Ergin Ataman tried several things and shapes, until he finally decided in the 34th minute to throw in the heavy (defensive) artillery. A five that built a concrete defense.
This particular five is special for Panathinaikos AKTOR. He has four of his five best defenders on the court (Grant, Osman, Juancho, Lessor, only Kalaitzakis is missing) and – most of all – long. Makros mainly offered by the duo of Osman and Huatso. Since the beginning of the season, Ergin Ataman has been trying to put the two forwards together in the top five. Against Maccabi it was shown why it is important for the two to find chemistry.
Juancho and Osman have a lot in common (Size, athleticism, length), but most of all they are excellent weakside defenders. Their coexistence changes the tension in the defense of the “greens”. And there is one phase in the 4th period that showed this:
Blatt plays Pick and Roll with Howard and passes him the ball. Juancho closes the space and then goes to close Howard.
Howard takes the ball and goes to play a handoff with Blatt. Huacho is waiting for him, while Lessor is also closing the space. Osman is in the corner but prepares to come out to help Howard roll up.
Blatt tries to pass, but Juancho and Grant touch the ball. Osman has already closed in and steals the ball.
Osman runs into the open field and scores.
Panathinaikos AKTOR was looking for the solution to Maccabi’s Pick and Roll all night. In the last six minutes he found the answer, largely thanks to Juancho and Osman, who closed spaces. It was a six-minute terror for Maccabi, who found it incredibly difficult to score, with the “greens” feeding on their defense to find solutions on the other side of the floor.
The Lessor Column and Nan
Even so, of course, Panathinaikos AKTOR had to score already to reach the victory. In a match where nothing was going right, despite the solutions provided by Juancho and Osman, it was Matias Lessor who kept the “cloverleaf” in the match for over 30 minutes, giving breathing space to scoring, especially in the 3rd period, even though he did enough mistakes (18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 turnovers).
In the end, of course, it took two big baskets by Nan (21 points) for Panathinaikos AKTOR to break away. The key phase, of course, was Huatso’s three-pointer – after an assist by Lessor – with which the “greens” escaped with 89-82 and sealed the match. All the five members of the team that closed the match put their hand in this victory.
Avoid mischief, and win something
At the beginning of the season, when Panathinaikos AKTOR made his plan, it is clear that seeing in the calendar the match at OAKA against Maccabi he noted that he would get the victory. So the victory came, even if it was hard, which is the most important thing.
However, the positive for Panathinaikos AKTOR is different: In a match that went a lot wrong and finally got it, the main gain was that this victory came with a pleasant note: The image of the team when Osman coexisted with Huatso, which is more important than people think.
Panathinaikos AKTOR is his and Lesor’s team of guards. This is what many believe. But the ceiling of the team will reach much higher than people think if in important games there are periods when Juancho and Osman coexist and do what they did against Maccabi. And this game might just be the start of that.
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