2001-02Regular SeasonRound 1
October 11, 2001 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 OAKA

Panathinaikos has stepped strong into the 2001-02 Euroleague, not only protecting its home in the season opener, but doing it with certain dominance against a dangerous Group C opponent. The Greens didn't mess around Wednesday and came down on visiting Skipper Fortitudo Bologna with a solid 81-70 victory. In front of a crowd of only 3,000 fans, the Greens were led by "usual suspect" Dejan Bodiroga with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Darryl Middleton (12 points) and surprising (both in defense and offense) Corey Albano (12) and (reserve point guard) Yannis Sioutis didn?t allow to the Italians to escape with the victory, that they didn't deserve with such a performance.

Gregor Fucka, who would finish as top scorer with 19 points, tallied 7 in the first five minutes and gave Skipper a 7-11 lead, but Zeljko Obradovic had the proper answer. He called Darryl Middleton from the bench, replacing Papadopoulos and because of that Panathinaikos found the defensive spirit, that was needed to take advantage of its fast break potential and scoring options. With a continuous rotation between man-to-man and zone defense, the Greens managed to make a 13-2 run in less than three minutes, and they got off to a 7-point lead, 20-13. By that time, Kinder guard John Celestand had committed his third personal foul and Panathinaikos concluded the first period ahead 20-14.

Outstanding defense with a lot of inside trapping gave Panathinaikos the opportunity to open the tempo and the margin, as well, to 29-18, on a three-pointer of John Rogers and two Middleton free throws early in the second quarter. As Middleton and Kutluay committed their third fouls each, however, Fucka returned to his scoring (29-24), but Panathinaikos didn' t face any problem. Yannis Sioutis answered with a three-pointer that shot the lead to 9 points, at 33-24. Skipper's percentage was down from the field (10 for 35) and the line (7 of 15) and they couldn't stop Bodiroga as the lead soared to 44-30 at halftime.

The third quarter started with three-pointers by Rogers and Damir Mulaomerovis, good for a 49-31 that should have ended the drama. But Skipper is not lacking in heart nor character. Fucka and Meneghin, who woke up with 9 points in the quarter, led a 13-2 run, cutting the margin to 51-44. Meneghin hit a three-pointerthat brought Skipper within 6, at 56-50, but Bodiroga answered in kind for a 61-52 lead. At the end of third period, Panathinaikos was leading by 63-57 and the game seemed still open.

Panathinaikos brought out its top guns now: Bodiroga, Mulaomerovic and Kutluay, who had yet to hit a shot. The score remained at 67-59 for four minutes, but Sioutis bumped it back up to double figures, 69-59, with four minutes left. Albano was locking down Fucka, but he surprised everyone by scoring 10 golden points in the quarter, putting Panathinaikos safely in front by 76-64. Celestand's first basket, a three-pointer, came one minute before the end, but Skipper had already lost Basile, Evtimov, Meneghin and Galanda to fouls. The game belonged to the Greens.

Thursday, October 11, 2001
V.S., Athens
No results found.
Referees: RAMOS, MATEO; REMS, IZTOK; MUHVIC, DUBRAVKO
Attendance: 3000
By Quarter1234
Panathinaikos Athens20241918
Skipper Bologna14162713
End of Quarter1234
Panathinaikos Athens20446381
Skipper Bologna14305770
Panathinaikos Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 ALVERTIS, FRAGISKOS 30:42 7 2/3 0/2 3/4   2 2 1         2   4
5 THEOS, SERAFIM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 SIOUTIS, IOANNIS 10:03 7 1/1 1/2 2/2 1   1 1   1     1   6
7 ROGERS, JOHNNY 15:14 11 3/4 1/1 2/2   1 1     3     2   6
8 MULAOMEROVIC, DAMIR 29:57 11 2/4 1/3 4/7 1 2 3 7   2     4   8
9 SVORONOS, MIKHAIL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 BODIROGA, DEJAN 33:53 18 4/7 1/2 7/8 2 9 11 3   2 1   3   23
11 MIDDLETON, DARRYL 23:06 12 4/8   4/4 3 1 4 1 1 2     4   8
12 KUTLUAY, IBRAHIM 16:40 1 0/2 0/2 1/4   2 2   1 2     4   -9
13 ALBANO, COREY 24:01 12 4/6 1/3 1/2 1 5 6 1 1 3     2   10
14 PAPADOPOULOS, LAZAROS 16:24 2 1/3     2 3 5 1     1   3   4
15 GIANNOULIS, YANNIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team                                
Totals 200:00 81 21/38 5/15 24/33 10 25 35 15 3 15 2 0 25 0 60
        55.3% 33.3% 72.7%
Head coach: OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Skipper Bologna
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 CELESTAND, JOHN 18:54 3 0/2 1/2     2 2 1   1     4   -2
5 BASILE, GIANLUCA 27:39 9 1/4 2/3 1/2 1 1 2 1         5   2
7 FUCKA, GREGOR 38:36 19 5/6 1/5 6/10 2 7 9 3 2 3     4   17
8 EVTIMOV, VASSIL 17:48 6 3/7   0/2 2 3 5 2 1 2   1 5    
9 SAVIC, ZORAN 15:05 8 2/2 0/2 4/7   2 2     1     2   2
11 MENEGHIN, ANDREA 32:14 14 3/7 1/7 5/5 1   1 2 1 2     5   1
12 MILIC, MARKO 16:20 2 1/7       2 2   1 1     3   -5
15 GALANDA, GIACOMO 30:54 9 2/4 1/2 2/2 3 2 5   1 2   1 5   4
16 PILUTTI, CLAUDIO 1:13     0/1                       -1
17 MANCINELLI, STEFANO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 MILOSSERDOV, ALEKSANDER 1:17   0/1     1   1 1             1
Team                                
Totals 200:00 70 17/40 6/22 18/28 10 19 29 10 6 12 0 2 33 0 19
        42.5% 27.3% 64.3%
Head coach: BONICIOLLI, MATTEO
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

OBRADOVIC, ZELJKO
Panathinaikos Athens
"That was a very important victory, because we played against a very good team as Skipper is. We are not ready yet to keep the rhythm for 40 minutes, but we tried to play hard defense and not to make many mistakes. I want to congratulate my players, because they seemed to understand their roles and thank our fans, even if I expected to see more of them tonight. As for Ibrahim Kutluay?s performance, I have to say that there is a rule in my team. All the players can play bad once, but they have to fight. Ibo is a big fighter and a very quality player, that?s why we signed him this summer."
BONICIOLLI, MATTEO
Skipper Bologna
"Panathinaikos was perfect today and my team had a bad shoting percentage and small concentration. I am very satisfied that my team cut the 18-point deficit to five points (61-56), because we didn?t say to ourselves that we are dead and fought for the victory. At that moment, Panathinaikos seemed to be very serious and kept the control of the game. I think that no team can win in Athens shooting 64% in free throws, 42% in two-point shots and 27% in three-point shots. Anyway, it is the beginning of the season. We will work hard to improve as much as we can."

Players

ROGERS, JOHNNY
Panathinaikos Athens
"It was the first European game of the season and the reason that we have to be satisfied is that we won a difficult game even if our performance was not perfect. This thing shows that we can be more competitive, more spectacular and more passionate. Panathinaikos? goals are always very high and we have to be ready at spring time, when we are going to compete for the title."
MENEGHIN, ANDREA
Skipper Bologna
"We missed couple of easy shots and we made mistakes when we cut the deficit to five points. I agree with my coach that we need some time to work together and honestly speaking, I am optimistic for the future. We have a new team, Panathinaikos has so many veterans players who know the Euroleague standards, that?s why we lost the game in Athens."
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