Priftis keeping low profile after PAO's triumph: 'We must calm down and stay serious' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Valery Sharifulin/TASS-Scanpix Credit Valery Sharifulin/TASS-Scanpix

Despite Panathinaikos OPAP Athens's five-star performance and a blowout win over reigning EuroLeague champions Anadolu Efes Istanbul, the Greens' coach Dimitris Priftis wanted to keep a low profile in the press conference following the game at OAKA."Congratulations to my players. We had a convincing night, we played pretty well on both sides of the floor. We had some lapses, but overall our performance was good. We're happy. We wanted and deserved that win," Priftis said at the beginning of his post-game quotes.

Player of the Game EFF 38 Daryl Macon Points 34 Accuracy 11-14 Rebounds 4 Assists 3

"Of course, we must calm down and stay serious. We're expecting a tough game on Friday. ASVEL are a good and strong team. Of course, our fans were very important. We feel different at OAKA," he went on to emphasize.The Greek coach, who is on his rookie season in the EuroLeague, pointed out that he is satisfied with how his players dealt with the game.

"We showed consistency and better percentages from behind the arc, we also managed to run a lot in transition. We're in a process where we need to get better. The guys are working and trying, I think that will come. We want some things to go faster."Asked about the defensive efficiency of Panathinaikos against Efes, Priftis noted an improvement.

"Obviously, numbers indicate that we played better on defense. A lot of times, when you don't play well on offense that takes away a certain amount of your defensive determination. Both play a part, not just the defensive part.

For sure, we kept a good team to a low score. Of course, Efes are not in good shape and have some serious absences," Priftis concluded.

On the other end, since Ergin Ataman was ejected with two technical fouls during the game, his assistant Yakup Sekizkok represented the Turkish team in the post-game presser - and he didn't have much to say about the way the contest turned out:

"Panathinaikos had energy at their home court. It's always hard to play in OAKA. We came here to win, but we couldn't execute our plan. Panathinaikos started the game very well.

We missed easy shots, missed dunks, and that created a significant difference by half-time. In the third period, we made some shots, had more energy, and tried to come back. But Panathinaikos fought, found their rhythm again, and took the victory," the Turkish coach stated.

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