Greek League, Regular Season, Game 16: February 16-17, 2008
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Panathinaikos remained undefeated after 16 games as the Greens rolled to easily beat bitter rival Olympiacos 64-82 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium to sweep the regular season series from the Reds and send a heavy message that they remain the big favorites, not only to secure the regular season’s first spot, but also to win it all. Kennedy Winston was in the zone posting 26 points on a magnificent 7-from-8 shooting from behind the three-point arc. Winston scored 14 points with 4 triples in the first period, which he finished with 4 rebounds and 3 steals too, as the defending champs went ahead early. AEK upset visiting Aris 77-62, sending the guests to their second consecutive loss. Former Aris player Alexis Kyritsis netted 23 points and K’Zell Wesson bagged 19 points and 12 rebounds for AEK, which improved to 8-8. Panionos smashed 95-69 Olympiada Patras as six players reached double figures, Alexander Capin leading them with 17 points and 6 assists. Despite being down by 22-6, Maroussi surprised host PAOK to grab an important 65-70 win in Thessaloniki. Branko Milisavljevic punished his former team by gunning 18 points, the same as Jarod Stevenson. Dimitris Verginis and Mamadou Diarra scored 13 points apice for PAOK. Panellinios did not face any trouble to crush Kolossos Rhodes 97-77 as Anthony Grundy fired in 22 points from the perimeter and Vangelis Sklavos, Pantelis Papaioakim scored 16 and 14, respectively, from inside. Giorgos Diamantopoulos posted 20 points for the visitors. In other games, AGO Rethymnon grabbed a crucial 78-71 win over Olympia Larissa behind 16 points from Sotiris Karapostolou, while Egaleo kept added another surprising road win, this time over AE Larissa 69-79, as Prodromos Nikolaidis scored 18 and Ibrahim Jaaber’s replacement Anthony Goldwire contributed 16 points.
In Peace and Friendship Stadium, Panathinaikos proved which team remains the boss in Greek League after its easy 64-82 win over Olympiacos to remain unbeaten after 16 games and force its archrival to its third league defeat. Despite the fact that the tickets we sold out, the Arena wasn’t full as heavy snow kept more than 8,000 fans from attending. As cold as the weather was, Kennedy Winston started the game red-hot by scoring 14 points on 4-of-4 from the three-point-range in a period’s time, as Panathinaikos led 16-26 after 10 minutes based on its excellent ball movement. Olympiacos decided to feed the ball inside to drew some fouls in order to cut the margin and come as close as 36-38 as Panathinaikos was now finding trouble to set up its trademark offensive cooperation. However, three consecutive Panathinaikos triples before and after halftime made it 36-44 in favor of the guests. When the Greens found another bunch of open three-pointers, the scoreboard went to a 20+ difference and Olympiacos had surrendered. The Greens had 16 made three-pointers and just 8 two-pointers, while the Reds shot with a poor 3/20 from behind the arc. Winston fired in 7 triples in 8 attempts on his way for 26 points. Vassilis Spanoulis contributed 14 points and 6 assists and Mike Batiste had 13 points and 11 boards. Milos Teodosic was the only Red to reach double figures with 12 points as Olympiacos’s offensive weapons Lynn Greer (0 points in 10 field attempts) and Marc Jackson (5 points) struggled to get connected.
Aris remained close for three quarters against AEK at the OAKA Sports Hall, but the hosts used an impressive 25-14 last period to sail to a 77-62 victory. Former Aris player Alexis Kyritsis netted 23 points, K’Zell Wesson bagged 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Nikos Barlos and Amara Sy had 10 points each. Bracey Wright scored 19 points and Jeremiah Massey added 18 for the guests; only four other Aris players managed to add their names on the scoreboard to prove the guests’ offensive difficulties. Panionios’s offensive pluralism was too hard to handle for Olympiada Patras as the hosts had six different player to score 10+ points on their way to an easy 95-67 win. Alexander Capin posted 17, Giannis Kalambokis had 13, Dusan Sakota, Giannis Giannoulis and latest addition Lonnie Baxter added 11 apiece, while Brad Newley contributed 10.
LAST GAME GAME 16
February 16-17, 2008 | | Day | Match | Result | | Feb. 16 | ALMECO vs. OLYMPIA | 78 - 71 | | Feb. 16 | P.A.O.K. vs. MAROUSI | 65 - 70 | | Feb. 16 | PANIONIOS vs. OLYMPIAS | 95 - 67 | | Feb. 17 | PANELLINIOS vs. KOLOSSOS | 97 - 77 | | Feb. 17 | A.E.L. vs. EGALEO | 69 - 79 | | Feb. 17 | A.E.K. vs. ARIS T.T.BANK | 77 - 62 | | Feb. 17 | OLYMPIACOS vs. PANATHIN. | 64 - 82 |
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NEXT GAME GAME 17
February 23-24, 2008 | | Day | Match | | Feb. 23 | AEP OLYMPIAS vs. A.E.L. | | Feb. 23 | EGALEO vs. PANELLINIOS | | Feb. 23 | KOLOSSOS vs. ALMECO | | Feb. 23 | OLYMPIA vs. P.A.O.K. | | Feb. 24 | MAROUSI vs. OLYMPIACOS | | Feb. 24 | ARIS vs. PANATHINAIKOS | | Feb. 23 | A.E.K. vs. PANIONIOS |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | PANATHINAIKOS | 16 | 16 | 0 | 1422 | 1105 | | 2 | OLYMPIACOS | 16 | 13 | 3 | 1401 | 1204 | | 3 | ARIS T.T.BANK | 16 | 11 | 5 | 1191 | 1104 | | 4 | PANIONIOS OnTelecoms | 16 | 10 | 6 | 1257 | 1181 | | 5 | PANELLINIOS | 16 | 9 | 7 | 1187 | 1201 | | 6 | EGALEO | 16 | 9 | 7 | 1235 | 1267 | | 7 | A.E.K. | 16 | 8 | 8 | 1191 | 1170 | | 8 | A.E.L. | 16 | 7 | 9 | 1177 | 1187 | | 9 | MAROUSI COSTA COFFEE | 16 | 7 | 9 | 1116 | 1158 | | 10 | P.A.O.K. | 16 | 6 | 10 | 1145 | 1222 | | 11 | OLYMPIA ATHIENITIS | 16 | 6 | 10 | 1105 | 1147 | | 12 | KOLOSSOS RODOU | 16 | 5 | 11 | 1205 | 1358 | | 13 | A.G.O.R. ALMECO | 16 | 3 | 13 | 1089 | 1179 | | 14 | A.E.P. OLYMPIAS | 16 | 2 | 14 | 1070 | 1308 |
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Sunday, February 17, 2008
Stelios Kyriakoglou, Athens
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