Panathinaikos fell to their 11th straight rivalry loss to Olympiacos in Euroleague and their fourth straight to drop to 16-14. The Greens don’t lack talent but, Emmet Ryan writes, they are crying out for creativity.
The final score papered over the cracks. For the 11th straight time in Euroleague, Panathinaikos lost to their arch rivals Olympiacos. The Greens have an extraordinary roster yet a far from balanced one. Friday’s defeat highlighted the challenge.
The fundamentals of running offensive basketball
This is just what has hit me nearly every time I’ve watched PAO all year. At 36 and having clearly lost a step, Kostas Sloukas can’t be relied on any more as the primary ball handler. Panathinaikos have spent enormous amounts to build one of the deepest rosters in the sport yet it’s failing at a core tenet of the game.
There’s a desperate need for a guard who is a high end passer and creative force. It doesn’t need an old-school PG, it just needs a ball-handler that isn’t there as either a pure scorer or pure defender. Panathinaikos clearly doesn’t have that in its arsenal right now.
The guard rotation in terms of talent is great. Kendrick Nunn, TJ Shorts, Jerian Grant, and Sloukas all have great capabilities. I may have criticised Sloukas in a core creator role but he still has a lot to offer. The issue with all of these is that none of them are in a position, at least with the way they have played this season to bring true dynamism as the core ball-handler.
Three pointers point to a wider challenge
Let me tell you something you probably already know. Panathinaikos sit at 16th out of 20 teams in Euroleague for three point percentage. They’re 19th for both total attempts and makes across the season. Consider the shooting talent at this side’s disposal, with both Cedi Osman and Juancho Hernangomez in the front court as broadly reliable outside scorers.
It comes back to just how easy it is for teams to defend against Panathinaikos right now. Even with Nigel Hayes Davis and Kenneth Faried on the floor together in this loss to Olympiacos, the Greens had trouble creating space or good looks. Two players who are great at this, especially in tandem with other bigs, couldn’t do it. That comes back to the core problem.
The point of attack has become all too predictable and there are extra half seconds here and there for defenders to adapt. When you’ve got ludicrous talent, you can overcome a lot of that but it makes life harder. That leads to a 16-14 record with 9-10 record in games decided by 10 points or less.
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Yet the could have won
That’s the real mask to bear in mind. Panathinaikos still have an awful lot of the goods. That is enough to certainly hang around in more games than most. They came back against Olympiacos because of the sheer volume of options available to them. Yes people will criticise decisions here and there or maybe even take down a banner.
Here’s the thing, Panathinaikos shouldn’t be in a situation where they have to be irked by how the games are called by the refs. There is enough talent there, both on the floor and on the bench, to be the Euroleague Final Four team that Ergin Ataman has promised they will be.
This is a side that shouldn’t have almost two thirds of its games being in the balance late. There is a depth of quality that it should be taking care of business. That includes the ball movement issue.
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Time for someone to take charge
The easy person to point to is the main man on the sideline. Ergin Ataman may get lots of reactions from people but the man can coach. He’s got three Euroleague titles/ Ataman is one of only three Panathinaikos coaches that have guided the Greens to the big one and the only time Anadolu Efes ever won anything worth a damn this century was with him as their head coach. He may be obstinate but he’s the type of obstinate that can get the job done.
That puts questions on the floor. Individually, to a man, the players in the main Panathinaikos rotation all have a lot to offer. It’s who is willing to do less and who is willing to be the necessary pain in the backside. The former involves getting less of the shooting load and the latter involves doing a whole lot more to open up variety offensively.
With Sloukas, they’ve got a guy for grit and guts along with ample deception play. Getting him to try and go floor general at this stage is an insult to his courage. It’s reckless use of an asset that still has value. Be it Nunn or Shorts going more pass-first, even Grant getting riskier, or a point forward approach through Hayes Davis, something has to be altered.
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