Messina wary of EuroLeague's ranking system, Priftis concerned about rebounding problem / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Vangelis Stolis Credit Vangelis Stolis

One week after their last visit to Greece and their defeat to Olympiacos Piraeus, AX Armani Exchange Milan managed to survive their clash with hosts Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

Player of the Game EFF 19 Malcolm Delaney Points 15 Accuracy 5-10 Rebounds 6 Assists 2

The Italian side wasted a 12-point lead, and coach Ettore Messina was relieved to see Kyle Hines grab an offensive rebound with two seconds remaining on the game clock. That proved to be the game-winning play for the guests, as the team's leader made his first attempt while deliberately missing the second one.

Ettore Messina underlined that Panathinaikos showed character in the game and also commented on a possible change of the ranking criteria in the EuroLeague standings.

As BasketNews reported earlier, the new suggested alternative goes like this:

Previous results against Russian clubs are left as they are Future games will be considered as simply canceled, meaning the clubs won't receive technical wins 20:0 The positions in the standings would be decided by winning percentage, not win/loss record.

"Honestly, I read the proposal quickly in the afternoon, before we came to the match," Messina said.

"I have no idea what should be done. In theory, we have to respect that some teams have played important games. I want to gather more information to comment on the proposal," he stated.

"Surely, it is good that the league finally thought to keep its integrity as long as it can, regardless of who plays and who doesn't. I want to think a little bit more about the details of the proposal, and understand them better," the Italian tactician said when asked about the issue.

Referring to the game, Messina stressed that Armani Exchange had a rough start. At the beginning of the Round 28 contest at OAKA, the Italians were 5/19 from the field, allowing Panathinaikos to get the upper hand. But not for long, as last year's EuroLeague semi-finalists re-grouped and built a lead which they kept for the better part of the game.

"Our start was very bad," Messina said. "The same thing happened in the final minutes. But for 30 minutes in between, I think we were good. We scored, we played defense, we found points in transition."

Okaro White

Team:Panathinaikos AthensPosition:PFAge:29Height:203 cmWeight:98 kgBirth place:Brooklyn, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

"I think after the bad start, we were better in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. It is not easy to play here, especially since Panathinaikos lost three days ago and certainly wanted to show their character," he added.

Messina also said that after gaining control in the fourth quarter, his team created problems by themselves.

"In the 4th period, we had a double-digit lead, but we made things complicated. We stopped moving the ball properly, made mistakes, and were saved by Kyle Hines's great offensive rebound."

Regardless of which metric system is used, Milan has consolidated themselves in 3rd place, and it is rather unlikely that they're going to miss the playoffs.

"I don't know if we're already in the playoffs, but we're close," Messina added.

"That was our main goal at the start of the season. I wish the best of luck to Panathinaikos, and to their coach and players".

On the other hand, Panathinaikos got off on the right foot but were out of tune in the second and third quarters. When Dimitris Priftis's team made their final push, they saw game officials (Sreten Radovic, Carlos Cortes, Saso Petek) make several non-calls (two clear fouls on Kavvadas by Ricci and on Kaselakis by Delaney went unpunished).

Asked whether the refs affected the outcome, forward Okaro White responded to Greek broadcaster NOVASPORTS.

"Yeah, you know... I keep my thoughts to myself. Refs got tough jobs, just like us players and you journalists. They're human beings. You got to do your job, but they're also humans."

Priftis's assistant, Vassilis Simtsak also stressed it.]

"There were two or three plays that could have been in our favor, and that could have played an important role in such a close game. I haven't watched them again to have a clear view," he told NOVASPORTS.

Credit Vangelis Stolis

"I thought we played hard tonight against the best defense in EuroLeague. That's how we stayed in the game after a poor performance against Zalgiris," White continued.While the hosts were trying to get back to the game, their crowd responded by cheering the players up. "I definitely felt it," White commented.

"That's the thing with Panathinaikos's fans. They can cheer you up and bring you back in the game like the sixth man on the court. If you play well, play hard, you should always have the fans behind you."

Credit Vangelis Stolis

"Fans are very supportive of us, despite the unfortunate results," Simtak underlined.

"If they weren't there, things would be very difficult, and they give us the courage to try and fight to the end."

In the post-game presser, Priftis praised his players' great effort, making a special reference to Daryl Macon's progress and the American guard's adjustment to the EuroLeague.

"It was a tough match, in tough conditions. The players fought, and in the end, we had a chance to win. We exhausted all the chances we had, with some mistakes, of course. There are a lot of things we can improve on as well."

Priftis further elaborated on his team's absences (Ioannis Papapetrou Stefan Jovic are still sidelined).

"The last few weeks have been tough for us," he said.

"Yesterday, we did our first 5-5 scrimmage after a long time in order to play this game. Especially the absence of Jovic is very significant," he added.Armani Milan outrebounded Panathinaikos 37-28 overall and 13-7 on the offensive glass. Priftis addressed the issue, saying that "it's a problem for us and we need to fix it. Especially in the first half, there are three three-pointers, which came after defensive rebounds that we didn't get. They punished us."For the second time in the same week, after the game vs. Zalgiris, Daryl Macon was held down in single-digits as far as scoring goes, but he still managed to produce 4 steals and dish out 8 assists.

"Macon is making a lot of effort," Priftis told the media. "It's a little hard to manage some things, especially for inexperienced players. Jovic came, we moved Macon to the shooting guard position.

Now Jovic will be out for a month. Macon is a player who also has a strong personality, and sometimes that affects him in his game. He certainly has talent, and he has shown it.

Today he tried a lot on defense. He's got potential, but there are also many things that he needs to improve at this level, mainly in terms of spiritual readiness".

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