Panathinaikos – Krka 91-80: The first images of Ergin Ataman’s team with Kostas Slukas and new acquisitions

September 4, 2023

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Panathinaikos - Krka 91-80: The first images of Ergin Ataman's team with Kostas Slukas and new acquisitions

The first friendly “test” for him was successful Panathinaikos in Slovenia. Ergin Ataman’s team beat Krka 91-80 and their new signings made their debut.

Panathinaikos won 91-80 against KK Krka Novo Mesto in the first friendly match for this season that took place in the city of Kranjska Gora, Slovenia! Alexander Balcherovski emerged as the top scorer for the clover team with 21 points.

Kostas Sloukas, Jerian Grant, Olek Balcherovski, Kyle Guy, Luka Vildosa and Kostas Antetokounmpo made their Panathinaikos debut. Ergin Ataman sat normally on the bench of Panathinaikos, despite the fact that he had a small stomach ailment.

On the contrary, the internationals Dimitris Moraitis, Ioannis Papapetrou, Juancho Hernangometh and Matias Lessor, who have not yet been integrated, were left out, as well as the injured Dinos Mitoglou.

The next and most demanding friendly in Slovenia for Panathinaikos is the one against Tsedevita Olympia, which is scheduled for Thursday, September 7.

The two teams went close at the start of the game and after three minutes of play the score was tied at 6-6. At 7′ the clover took the lead by two points (13-11), while at 8′ it was 20-18, before the quarter ended with KK Krka Novo Mesto leading 20-22. In the 14th minute, the greens reduced the distance from their opponent to a point (27-28), with the half-time closing at 43-47.

In the 21st minute, Panathinaikos got closer to 46-49, with KK Krka Novo Mesto escaping in the next few minutes (50-57, 24′) and Ergin Ataman’s players reducing again and in the 25th minute making it 55-59. In the remaining time the scoreboard showed 64-69 (28′), with the third period ending at 69-74. Panathinaikos found the solutions to overtake in the score with 75-74 in the 32nd minute and then widened its difference reaching 80-74 (35′). With beautiful collaborations, in fact, he managed to open the “scissors” from KK Krka Novo Mesto. In the 39th it was 87-80 and the match ended at +11 for the greens (91-80).

The quarters: 20-22, 43-47, 69-74, 91-80

Panathinaikos (Ataman): P. Kalaitzakis 6 (2), Vildosa 13 (2), Guy 7 (1), Balcherovski 21, Sloukas 5 (1), Avdalas, Samonturov, Grant 12 (2), Kottas, Antetokounmpo 12, Grigonis 4 (1), Manzoukas 11 (1)

Krka: Stergar 18 (2), Endoshowman 10, Cerkvenik 5, Batsvic 4 (1), Cousins 15 (1), Djurkovic 2, Spahn 13 (3), Plut, Skendeli 6, Makura 7, Bobnar

Serelis: “The first thing we wanted to see was the mood”

The direct collaborator of Ergin Ataman, Christos Serelis, spoke about the team’s first friendly and emphasized that: “In essence, it was our first attempt to play 5vs5 in a continuous period. We are still very tired, the children have trained very well! We wanted to see some systems, as they are all new to the team, see how we can work together and slowly adjust our defensive plan. We cannot draw conclusions, we are missing five players! But the mood was the first thing we wanted to see and how some players can work together as a new team!”