Dimitris Itoudis weighs in on Greek teams' Final Four chances / News - Basketnews.com

Dimitris Itoudis commented on the EuroLeague playoff series, giving Panathinakos and Real Madrid the upper hand to reach the Final Four.

Credit: Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic Credit Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic

The second week of the EuroLeague playoffs is just around the corner, and Game 3 and 4 of the quarterfinals are expected with great interest.

The series travel to the courts of the teams that started with a disadvantage and it remains to be seen what this week has in store for the eight quarter-finalists.

Dimitris Itoudis may not be part of the postseason after nine years in a row (excluding the Covid-19 season in 2019-20), however he's following the playoffs pretty closely.

The former coach of the Greek national team, who started the season in Istanbul and was dismissed by of Fenerbahce last December, commented on this year's playoffs in an interview with the Greek Basketball Federations's WebRadio.

Itoudis gave Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens an advantage over Maccabi while leaving everything open in Olympiacos Piraeus' series vs. FC Barcelona.

"We saw two different games, something to be expected," he said of the latter pairing (1-1).

"Olympiacos were more decisive in the first game, generally with the way they made their fouls and their shots, but the opposite happened in Game 2. Yes, Barcelona were better and made big shots, but the fact that they started with three and-ones gave them the upper hand.

Olympiacos now bring the series to Piraeus, aware of the risk that Barcelona can place on them. The games are open, I can't make any predictions," the Greek play-caller stressed.

Itoudis thinksPanathinaikos-Maccabi Tel Aviv series "is very physical, because both teams are physical."

"This matchup has more contacts and is harder for referees. I think Panathinaikos have the advantage. Wade Baldwin's status is questionable, since even if he plays he won't be as explosive. Maccabi are a team that puts a lot in the hands of him and Lorenzo Brown, the rest are mainly scoring off the offensive rebound. That's been Maccabi's identity all year long.

Panathinaikos have the ability to make it tough on the opponent with their long-distance shot, with the creation of Kostas Sloukas, where Maccabi have yet to find a way to deal with it. Anything can happen in the playoffs, but Panathinaikos have the experience to handle things," Itoudis maintains.

The former Fenerbahce coach thinks the Turkish team and Nigel Hayes-Davis in particular have managed to neutralize Mike James and get him off his scoring routine.

"Monaco are trying to get Hayes-Davies off James, bringing in another defender, but they haven't succeeded. In this pair, scoring is higher, even though both teams have good defenders," he said.

Itoudis also believes that Real Madrid's 2-0 lead over Baskonia (2-0) shows that they're the better team in the series and that they'll make it to the Final Four one way or another.

"This does not mean that Baskonia will only play for the sake of appearances. The Spanish teams know each other very well and have played many times against each other."

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