Priftis critical despite PAO's win: 'We have to fix a lot, not just defense' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Sputnik – Scanpix Credit Sputnik – Scanpix

Panathinaikos showed character, bouncing back in the closing seconds of the home game against Fenerbahce Istanbul and taking their first win in the 2021-22 EuroLeague by 91-87.

Player of the Game EFF 20 Nemanja Nedovic Points 20 Accuracy 4-12 Rebounds 0 Assists 3

The winning side's coach, Dimitris Priftis, however, was not satisfied with his team's performance, as he stressed in his statements during the press conference following the encounter. "Congratulations to the team on the first win. I want to congratulate the fans, they gave us a boost, they were a factor for us to get the win.

As for the game, we have a lot to improve; be more consistent because now it seems that we have many things to fix. We did not play well, it seems from the way we won. This victory makes us more optimistic about what's ahead," the coach of Panathinaikos said.

"In the end, some things worked. We had the challenge, and it helped us, the right players had the ball. Let's be realistic: I'd like us to play defense, that's not defense. We gave up over 20 points in every quarter. It can't be like that. We have to do it (defend better), we can't concede so many points, go to such high scores. We have to fix a lot. Conceding 90 points is not my purpose. I'd like us to be more competitive and defend harder. The other teams have talent, we have to improve defensively."

The Greek coach also emphasized that his team needs to improve its self-confidence.

"We have a certain level of anxiety that is acceptable, but sometimes it is excessive. We have to get through this.

The roster we have, if it doesn't feel good, it's not easy to perform. We need to improve our defense on the pick and roll. Our second half against Aris was embarrassing, I am ashamed. We do have some structural problems, all the teams do, no one is perfect," Priftis concluded.

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