The return to the nitty gritty of the Greek league proved very demanding for Panathinaikos and Olympiakos, as they struggled to beat their opposition on Tuesday, just four days after the elimination from the Euroleague.
AGO Rethymnou troubled Panathinaikos in Athens for the first three quarters of the game, but Dimitris Diamantidis led the Greens to a 76-61 victory in the end.
Olympiakos faced the stiff opposition of Nea Kifissia away and eventually won by eight points (75-67) as it was still smarting from handing over it European trophy.
Sadly in the Euroleague, Greek basketball’s domination has been dethroned as no team will be staking their claim in the final.
Holder Olympiakos suffered an 83-69 reverse in Madrid to Real to lose 3-2 in the best-of-five series, while Panathinaikos got thrashed 74-44 at CSKA Moscow to bow out of the tournament with the same score.
Never has a team overcome a 2-0 deficit in the quarterfinals of the Euroleague, and the Greek teams followed the rule in the end, despite going level (2-2) on Wednesday.
The main problem for Olympiakos was its inability to collect enough rebounds to challenge Real, while Panathinaikos had a huge problem in attack in Moscow as it could not get any scoring from its guards on the night.
Source: Kathimerini.