Before the Maccabi Tel Aviv and Panathinaikos Euroleague quarterfinal series began, The Sports Rabbi’s Nate Dror had a discussion with Vasiliki Karamouza from Sport 24 in Greece about what to expect in the upcoming battle. As we are about to tipoff for the decisive game 5 slated for Tuesday, 21:15 in Athens, the pair of journalists once again got together to take a look at what has transpired over the opening four clashes between the two while also looking ahead to the do-or-die contest that awaits!

Nate Dror: We talked a lot before the series about what we think will happen and what the keys are. Now just before game 5 it’s time to analyze what has happened so far. What do you think about the development of the series so far? made the expectations?

Vasiliki Karouzma: From the beginning I thought this series will be decided on a Game 5, because both teams are talented and capable of playing great offensive basketball on any given night.

I must admit I didn’t expect Maccabi to win the first game, but Panathinaikos managed to answer back in Game 2. The two games played in Belgrade were also very intense. Maccabi outplayed the Greens on Game 3, but Panathinaikos didn’t give up and had a very well-prepared Game 4 I’d say. Ataman shortened his rotation even more, changed his starting line-up and relied to Kostas Sloukas and Kendrick Nunn.

Baldwin’s injury is the only question mark in this series. The fact that he played a bit in Game 4 and then relapsed may have damaged Maccabi’s strategy.

ND: Interestingly, I actually thought that Maccabi would win the first game and that Maccabi would win 3:1.

But of course, I think Wade’s injury changed the balance of power here. There is no doubt that PAO’s Game 4 was heroic for them. Ataman radically shortened his rotation, did not give Luca Vildoza a minute to play, when Maccabi started a 13:1 run at the beginning of the last quarter, it made me think that maybe these are the minutes that will take them to the Final Four. But PAO made an amazing comeback and ran 20:6 at the end.

In any case, let’s take a look at the first game. I had the impression that this surprised PAO very much and then really created a shock in the system. Was it indeed so? What do you also think about everything that followed and PAO’s claims about the referees?

VK: Yeah, Maccabi definitely got Panathinaikos by surprise in Game 1, but it’s not like the Greens lost with their hands down, so everyone in the club knew they could and should the second game.

Okay, Ataman had some complaints from the referees and it’s sometimes part of a head coach’s job to stress this things out. I don’t think though that his statements made the next referees of the series to have second thoughts or anything like that.

ND: I think in the 48 hours between the first game and the second game we also realized that this series sometimes goes to political places or places that are not basketball. That’s how it felt to me.

It also kind of dragged into the “Ataman is Turkish versus Israel” place, and there were a lot of PLO flags in the crowd especially in the second game (although, there were some in the first game too), how about that?

VK: Sports should be all about sports, but since money, powerful people and different countries are involved, politics get in the way.

ND: I’m also interested in whether the PAO audience has any political agenda? Or did they do it just to try and annoy Maccabi?

VK: Political agenda? I don’t think so. Everybody has his opinion about what is happening in the region, I can’t really speak on behalf of them and I don’t think every Pana fan is on the same page about this subject or anything else.

ND: Tell us a little more about what PAO change between game 1 and 2.

VK: In Game 2 it was all about Sloukas. He is the leader of the team and he probably had one of the best games in his EuroLeague career. The game plan allowed him to be more aggressive than usual, to score instead of creating for his teammates like he did in Game 1 (where he had 13 assists).

ND: I agree with every word. In my preparation column for the series, I wrote that if Maccabi wants to win, one of its main keys will be to stop Sloukas. He is an amazing creator, very talented, a fantastic shooter, he has a lot of experience… the whole package in short. If you notice, in the two games Sloukas dominated – PAO won, in the two games he didn’t dominate – Maccabi won. Do you agree with this statement?

VK: Yes, he is extremely valuable for Panathinaikos.

ND: By the way, I think Sloukas’ most impressive game in the series was game 4! Even more than game 2 (he also finished there with a higher PIR). He really took critical and excellent decisions there that won PAO the game.

Anyway let’s go back 10 days ago, the series went to Belgrade knotted up at 1:1 and Maccabi was without Wade Baldwin. At that point in time, what did you think would happen?

VK: The differences between the two teams aren’t that big, despite Panathinaikos finishing 2nd and Maccabi 7th, so I kind of expected that they will split the wins in Belgrade as it happened in Athens. But when Katash’s team went so strong in the 4th quarter of Game 4 I thought maybe it would be over. Panathinaikos’ comeback in that last 3 – 4 minutes was impressive.

ND: Were you surprised by the dominance that Maccabi displayed in most of the third game? What do you think happened in the last few minutes there?

VK: Maccabi is what we often call “rhythm team”. Since they were hot from the beginning everything else just fell into place and they dominated. Panathinaikos tried to make a comeback, not necessarily to win that game, but most importantly to gain confidence about the next one. Nunn found a few good spots and the Greens came close to the miracle.

ND: We spoke about this a bit already but tell me to what’s going on with PAO before game 4, because it’s make or break.

VK: From what I could understand everybody was skeptical and nervous, but also very locked in and finally the instinct of survival prevailed. The previous night the team witnessed something very sad, with the long time equipment manager of the club Paris Dermanis having a serious health issue and being rushed to the hospital, so I believe this also affected the players. They had extra motivation in the back of their minds, even though this might sound like a cliche.

ND: I noticed something very interesting in game 4 that didn’t occur in game 3. PAO really concentrated on basketball and also preferred to get on the court as late as possible (they didn’t shoot warm-ups an hour before the game). In my opinion, this was to prevent them from having to hear from Maccabi fans before the game. There’s a chance that this won the game to them. What do you think about this?

VK: Didn’t really notice the “delay” to be honest. But for sure everybody was 100% focused on the job. It was evident from the first seconds of the game.

ND: By the way, what do you think about the Maccabi fans’ performance in Belgrade? Did they meet expectations?

VK: Maccabi has one of the greatest fanbases in EuroLeague, so I didn’t expect anything less. Even though they weren’t that many, they created a great vibe. Playing in an empty arena is never nice, even for the opposing team and Hala Pionir is small and has great acoustics for situations like this, so I really enjoyed their presence. Coming from Greece I know a thing or two about atmosphere, so I was all up for it.

ND: Okay, so let’s recap what happened so far. We are at 2:2. Great basketball. How do you sum up the series so far?

VK: Starting from Maccabi I have to give credit to Oded Katash, because he has managed to get something out of all his players. Apart from Brown (since Baldwin hasn’t played much) and Nebo who everybody expected good performance from, I’d say Colson is also very crucial. Blatt and DiBartolomeo can also get hot and have helped a lot at some points.

On the other hand, Ergin Ataman initially trusted his usual recipe, but in the end he also made adjustments. Especially with playing Ioannis Papapetrou more than Marius Grigonis and we also have to take into consideration the fact that Juancho Hernangomez isn’t playing either, so there aren’t many options on the frontline for the Greens. When Sloukas and Nunn are rolling though, everything gets easier.

ND: And that’s it, now back to Greece. Playoff. In my opinion, this series deserves game 5. What do you think each team’s chances are in this game?

VK: Knowing what the OAKA vibe will be like and how much everybody in Panathinaikos wants to go to the Final Four after 12 years, I’d say Ataman’s team is the favorite to win Game 5. But I know very well they shouldn’t underestimate Maccabi. I expect a close game. 5-7 points margin, something like that.

How about the keys of the whole team for this game?

ND: In my opinion, in terms of PAO of course, Sloukas, and if he dominates the game it should be a win for PAO, but I will also add the defense. PAO had a great defense in the EuroLeague regular season. So far, in the series, with all due respect, the PAO defense hasn’t really shown it and averages 1.25 points per possession from Maccabi. That’s a lot. It is true that PAO scores more, but Maccabi’s defense throughout the season was nothing to talk about…

As far as Maccabi is concerned, I think we understand that Wade Baldwin will not play. For Maccabi, the team must rise like a storm from the opening and must lead from the first moment. Maccabi must not be in the “chaser” role. Certainly not in the second half. Maccabi needs to play fast with a lot of ball movement, run, drag the game in the direction of many possessions and hope that Lorenzo Brown will make the difference. Another important key for Maccabi, in my opinion, is to send Lessort to the line. He is 18/37 in the series (49%). Currently not really delivering the goods from there and that can be critical.

What do you think?

VK: Yes it’s true, Panathinaikos played great defense in many regular season games, but not in this playoffs series. It was crazy to me that in a do-or-die Game 4 they didn’t force Maccabi to make any turnovers in the first half. Maybe they have decided stopping Maccabi isn’t possible and that they have to win through their offense, I don’t know.

Brown definitely needs to step up for Maccabi this time, like he did in the Play-In game against Baskonia and yes Lessort is missing a ton of free throws, so not letting him score easy points and sending him to the line, might help as well.

ND: Let’s talk about PAO’s fans. Tell me a little about the atmosphere before game 5. Are they planning anything special? What awaits us?

VK: OAKA can accommodate around 19,000 people and there around 100,000 tickets requests, so you can imagine how much does this game mean to Panathinaikos fans. Probably the team will fave something special prepared, but they never reveal anything beforehand, so we will all have to wait and see. The main thing about Panathinaikos home games is that the crowd can literally lift the team if there is bas momentum on the court. I’ve seen it happen many times.

ND: In your estimation, your bet. How will the game end?

VK: Like I said before I believe Panathinaikos will win by 5-7 points. It will be a fight from both sides for sure. And if the Greens win indeed, afterwards there will be a big party by the fans in the stands.

ND: Let’s close our conversation with the other series in the Euroleague.

Excluding Real – Baskonia there are 3 excellent series here that deserve a game 5. It is true that today’s statistics are that in game 5 the home team won 19/19, but in my opinion this year it will be broken. I believe Fenerbahce and Olympiakos will go at least 1/2 and I won’t even be surprised if it ends up being 3/3.

What do you think?

VK: I agree with you even though it hasn’t happened before, I believe both Olympiacos and Fenerbahce will win away in Games 5. Don’t get me wrong, Barcelona and Monaco are really good teams with some very talented players on their rosters, but Oly and Fener are tougher, more experienced maybe and have what it takes to get the job done.

ND: Amazing! THANK You very much Vasikili for that conversation it was very interesting just like the last time.

VK: Thank you