Mike James steals the show at OAKA, while Priftis makes cryptic comment on referees / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Vangelis Stolis Credit Vangelis Stolis

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens came with poor defensive performance, and AS Monaco took advantage of every mistake, the Greens made to take another road win.

Player of the Game EFF 29 Mike James Points 29 Accuracy 12-17 Rebounds 4 Assists 3

This season, the EuroLeague newcomers swept the struggling Greek squad, winning both games against the Greens, who dropped to 5-16.

The Principality side has been on a constant rise since coach Sasa Obradovic replaced Zvezdan Mitrovic. Under the Serbian tactician's guidance, Monaco have become a bona fide playoff contender, having racked up five wins in their last six games.

Currently standing at 11-12, they've managed to enter the top 8 for the first time in three months, overtaking Bayern Munich.At OAKA, Mike James was going to be the man of the match anyway. Once again, the American guard returned to the Olympic installation as an opponent, but not as an enemy.

Even if there were only one thousand of them in the stands, PAO fans warmly applauded one of their favorite players in recent years when he stepped on the court for his team's presentation.

James had two stints with Panathinaikos in 2016-17 and 2017-18, winning two Greek championship titles and as many Greek Cup trophies. Nevertheless, he failed to lead the Greens to the EuroLeague Final Four they so much craved for.Back in 2018, the Greek club decided to give its biggest contract to team captain Nick Calathes, luring the Greek-American guard to stay while presenting James with no offer. James took it to heart back then, as one would expect from a player of his caliber and ego.

The former Suns and Nets guard has repeatedly referred to his former team as "family", even during his time with AX Armani Exchange Milan and CSKA Moscow.

Panathinaikos Athens / Schedule

Panathinaikos Athens Zalgiris KaunasWed19:00 Panathinaikos Athens Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz75-63 Panathinaikos Athens Monaco Basket83-91 FC Barcelona Panathinaikos AthensThu20:00

However, when it came down to who of the two would prevail, James always had the upper hand. The 31-year-old guard, who sealed Baskonia's Final Four ticket in 2016 with a stellar performance at the gym which would become his home for almost two years, has never left the OAKA arena empty-handed since he went through the exit door.

With Monaco, he registered his fourth straight win over Panathinaikos as a player of the visiting team. In contrast to his other recent visits, James was unstoppable against his former team with 29 points on an excellent 12/17 shooting from the field, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.

It looked like James saved his best game of the season for Panathinaikos, as he led Monaco to a decisive 13-4 run highlighted by his 13 straight points.

When his show was over, and before he entered the locker room area at full speed if he was still playing, EuroLeague legend and current club's GM Dimitris Diamantidis caught up with him for a while.

The two never played together but had faced each other several times since James debuted in the Greek league with Kolossos Rhodes in 2014, including the 2016 playoff series where Diamantidis featured in his last EuroLeague appearances.

Credit Vangelis Stolis

"I made a few shots early. That gave me some confidence. Sometimes, you feel the ball nicer in your hands, and every time I shot, I felt good," James told EuroLeague TV.

"My last EuroLeague game was awful, and I didn't want to have a second straight bad game," he added.

James was referring to his 11-point performance against Real Madrid, accompanied by a disappointing 3/19 shooting from the field.

"Mike James can score from every position. It's impossible to guard him," Panathinaikos's forward Howard Sant-Roos told Greek broadcaster NOVASPORTS.

"James made some tough long-distance shots that he created himself and which turned out to be crucial. He was very effective," the Greens' coach Dimitris Priftis commented.

"In crunch-time, James hit two 3-pointers with a hand in his face," he pointed out. "We made a turnover, the deficit increased to 8 points, and everything changed."

However, Priftis's assistant Vassilis Simtsak gave a slightly different view on who the real man of the game was. "The game was not lost because of James. It is true that he gained confidence by the drives he attempted before hitting the big shots," Simtsak argued.

"He's got a special talent, but Paris Lee did the real damage with his on-ball pressing. He made whatever shot he took, made the right choices, and caused us problems."

If James was the MVP for Monaco, Lee complemented the team's star player in the best way possible. He was the one who kept Monaco upright with his 5 points when Panathinaikos took the lead (68-67) and was the first and foremost line of defense, amassing 4 steals, just before James took over.

"I'm just trying to bring energy," the EuroLeague rookie said.

"I feel like the energy is just contagious. Since the new coach came in and passed on his defensive-minded mentality, I feel like that's what we're showing, especially in January.

We lost a difficult game to Real Madrid, but we won tonight. I feel that if we go to Red Star and play defense, we will get another win," Lee concluded.

Sasa Obradovic saw his team react well when Panathinaikos seemed to gain momentum in the fourth quarter.

"It was a very important win for us because we didn't start well in the first period," the Serbian coach said initially.

"Then we were in control. We gave in some offensive rebounds to Panathinaikos, who came back. But I am satisfied with my team's performance. Mike James made a tough shot in the end."Obradovic also stressed that he and his players are aware of the team's offensive potential.

"We know that we have talent on offense, and our players want to be in the Top-8. It's important for everyone to be healthy and contribute," he noted.

If Monaco had more than one reason to celebrate, Panathinaikos haven't recorded back-to-back EuroLeague wins for almost a full calendar year. The last time that happened was between January 29 and February 5, 2021, when the Greens took down Valencia Basket at OAKA and Olympiacos in Piraeus.Dimitris Priftis' team had a good run in the first quarter, didn't give up when they were down by 13 in the third, but eventually ran out of steam.

As far as defense goes, the hosts were once again incapable of containing Monaco's main offensive weapons. The French squad finished the game with only 9 assists for their 91 points, which indicates that they got the most out of their one-on-one game.

Team captain Ioannis Papapetrou was the only player missing from the Greeks, who received little if any help from newly-signed guard Stefan Jovic and recently recovered center Giorgos Papagiannis.

Dimitris Priftis emphasized that his team paid a heavy price for the 30 points that Monaco scored in the second quarter.

"What makes me sad is the way we managed the second quarter," he said.

"We didn't do justice to ourselves. We have made progress, we played the right way in the first quarter, displaying a fine passing game and good mentality," the Greek coach added.

"There's a big disparity between the first and the second period. Instead of giving up easy baskets in three or four consecutive possessions, let's make a couple of fouls. That's what gave our opponents a significant lead late in the game."

At a crucial moment of Panathinaikos's Round 21 game against Anadolu Efes in Istanbul, referee Daniel Hierrezuelo handed Dimitris Priftis a technical foul for stepping on the court on the tip of his shoe. Eventually, Efes got the win thanks to a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Adrien Moerman, but that decision stirred much debate.

"I said nothing to the referee," PAO's coach said after the game in Turkey. "I talked to my player. I stepped over the line with half of my shoe, not the full of it. To be honest, they warned me before," he added.

Of course, by the letter of the law, the decision was correct. However, such violations occur constantly in every game, and the referees, most often than not, let coaches go unpunished.

That's what happened on Tuesday night when Sasa Obradovic became his team's sixth player.

This time, Priftis chose to make a discreet comment on the referees' calls, pointing to the fine already imposed upon him by the EuroLeague judge.

"Let's not talk about the officiating," the Greek tactician asked the media in attendance at the press conference.

"It's a EuroLeague game whenever we talk about the referees... I have already received a large fine," he continued.

The fine Priftis talked about came after he made some statements regarding the referees' calls during Panathinaikos's game in Munich against Bayern last November.

Following the Instabul incident, though, it seems that the experienced coach has found a non-punishable way of getting his point across.

"Let's not talk about it," he repeated, "I understand that you understand what I mean. But we shouldn't hide behind it either. I'm sorry."

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