2019-20Regular SeasonRound 11
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 100
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 68
November 28, 2019 CET: 20:00
Local time: 21:00 OAKA

Fredette leads Panathinaikos to 7th win

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens recorded its third consecutive win in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by downing KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 100-68 in the Greek capital on Thursday. Panathinaikos improved to 7-4 in the standings, while Baskonia dropped to 5-6. Jimmer Fredette led the winners with 21 points, DeShaun Thomas added 15, Tyrese Rice and Nick Calathes each had 12 and Ioannis Papapetrou got 11 for Panathinaikos. Calathes also dished 9 assists for the Greens. Youssoupha Fall and Nik Stauskas led Baskonia with 12 points apiece and Toko Shengelia added 11. Papapetrou and Fredette stepped up for the hosts in the second quarter and a layup by Wesley Johnson made it a double-digit game, 46-36, at halftime. Fredette took over after the break, burying back-to-back three-pointers to break the game open at 72-51 after 30 minutes. Baskonia kept trying but Panathinaikos won on its way to a well-deserved win.

Fredette and Pierria Henry exchanged early baskets before Shavon Shields and Fall drove Baskonia ahead 5-10. Calathes reeled it back to a 12-10 Panathinaikos lead with a triple and free throws. Thomas got his first points and Fredette connected from deep to suddenly make it 17-11 after a 12-1 run. Stauskas revived the visitors with a pair of triples to tie the game at 17-17 after Baskonia's seventh offensive rebound. Rice broke the tie from downtown to leave a 20-17 score after one quarter. The third three-pointer by Stauskas forged another tie before Calathes fed Georgios Papagianis and Rice struck from deep, 27-22. Papapetrou had 5 points to raise the lead to 34-27. Fredette took over with an off-balance three-point play and Johnson added a fastbreak layup to make it a double-digit game, 39-28. Matt Janning struck twice from beyond the arc, but Dinos Mitoglou answered from downtown, Calathes scored in penetration and Johnson added a layup that set a 46-36 Panathinaikos edge at halftime. Thomas and Papapetrou scored around the basket right after the break and Papagiannis added an alley-oop dunk for a 52-36 Panathinaikos margin. Shields and Fall tried to change things for Baskonia, scoring 4 points each to get the visitors within 57-44. Thomas downed a corner three-pointer and Calathes banked in a floater to break the game open at 62-44. Johnson and Fredette kept pushing Panathinaikos, but Fall and Shengelia kept Baskonia in the picture at 66-51. Fredette buried back-to-back three-pointers to boost the hosts' lead to 72-51 after 30 minutes. Rice downed a triple early in the fourth quarter, as Baskonia tried to run its offense through its big men, Michael Eric and Shengelia. Johnson joined the three-point shootout, however, and Fredette added a driving layup to keep the hosts way ahead, 80-57. Little changed after that, as Panathinaikos never looked back.

Pivotal performer

Fredette lived up to his reputation as an elite shooter, hitting shots from almost every angle to lead Panathinaikos to an important win. He finished the game with 21 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting, added 4 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and 2 fouls drawn for a PIR of 22.

Game-changing moment

Panathinaikos led 44-36 late in the first half, but Johnson scored around the basket before the break and the Greens came finding easy baskets early in the third quarter. Calathes fed Papagiannis for an alley-oop dunk and all of a sudden, Panathinaikos led by 16 points, 52-36. Baskonia never recovered, as Panathinaikos made sure to keep full control of the game until the final buzzer.

Stellar stat

Panathinaikos shot the ball much better, with much better percentages, hitting 53.7% of its two-point shots (22 of 41) and 46.4% from downtown (13 of 28). Baskonia only hit 19 of 41 inside the arc (46.3%) and struggled from three-point range (25.8%). Free throws made the difference, too (Panathinaikos 94.4%, Baskonia 42.9%).

Did you notice?

It was Baskonia's third-biggest road loss in the club's EuroLeague history. Baskonia had only lost by more than 32 points twice before: 82-45 against Zalgiris Kaunas on November 23, 2012, and 98-64 against Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul on February 14, 2013.

Next game

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action on Friday, December 6. Panathinaikos hosts archrival Olympiacos Piraeus in the first Greek derby of the season. Baskonia welcomes Anadolu Efes Istanbul, led by former star guard Shane Larkin.

Jimmer Fredette - Panathinaikos OPAP Athens - EB19
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; LATISEVS, OLEGS; VILIUS, GYTIS
Attendance: 11945
By Quarter1234
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens20262628
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz17191517
End of Quarter1234
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens204672100
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz17365168
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 THOMAS, DESHAUN 20:40 15 3/5 1/4 6/6 3 5 8   1 1   1 3 4 18
5 RICE, TYRESE 17:35 12   3/5 3/3 1 1 2 3   1       2 16
6 PAPAGIANNIS, GEORGIOS 17:28 6 3/3 0/1     2 2 1     1   1   8
10 PAPAPETROU, IOANNIS 17:47 11 4/5 1/1         1         3   8
11 PAPPAS, NIKOS 8:17 2 0/1 0/1 2/2       1   1     1 1  
15 VOUGIOUKAS, IAN 2:04 2 1/2       2 2         1 1   1
24 JOHNSON, WESLEY 20:14 9 3/6 1/2   2 2 4   2   1   2 1 11
32 FREDETTE, JIMMER 28:29 21 4/12 4/5 1/1 1 3 4 5 1 1     1 2 22
33 CALATHES, NICK 25:39 12 3/4 1/3 3/4 2 4 6 9 1 2     3 4 23
35 WILEY, JACOB 15:19 2 1/2       3 3           1   3
44 MITOGLOU, KONSTANTINOS 21:19 3 0/1 1/4   2 4 6   1       1   5
50 BENTIL, BEN 5:09 5   1/2 2/2   2 2 1   1     2 1 5
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 100 22/41 13/28 17/18 12 29 41 21 6 7 2 2 19 15 122
        53.7% 46.4% 94.4%
Head coach: PITINO, RICK
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
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 VILDOZA, LUCA 14:41     0/3     1 1 3 1 4     1   -3
5 GONZALEZ, MIGUEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 HENRY, PIERRIA 26:20 4 2/7 0/2   1 3 4 9   3     3 2 6
10 LOPEZ, LAUTARO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 JANNING, MATT 30:02 8 1/4 2/6   2 1 3 4 1       4   5
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 5:49     0/1                     1  
19 FALL, YOUSSOUPHA 15:11 12 5/9   2/4 3 4 7     1     3 3 12
22 STAUSKAS, NIK 22:27 12 0/1 4/6     1 1 2 1 3     1   9
23 SHENGELIA, TORNIKE 28:35 11 2/7 2/6 1/4 3 3 6 1         1 6 11
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 26:30 8 3/5 0/4 2/2 3 3 6     1   2   2 7
33 POLONARA, ACHILLE 11:25 4 2/2 0/3   2 1 3   1       2 3 6
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 19:00 9 4/6   1/4 3 2 5 1     2     2 14
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 68 19/41 8/31 6/14 18 21 39 20 4 12 2 2 15 19 70
        46.3% 25.8% 42.9%
Head coach: PERASOVIC, VELIMIR

Head Coaches

PITINO, RICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"First and foremost, last year was so different from this year. You all know what I think of Nick [Calathes], you all know what I think of Pap [Ioannis Papapetrou], you all know what I think of DeShaun [Thomas] and last year, when I took them out of the game, I always felt that we dropped off. Now, I take Nick out of the game and I got a three-time MVP in EuroCup and EuroLeague, I take Pap out of the game and I got Wesley Johnson, who I think he is terrific. I take DeShaun out of the game and Dinos [Mitoglou] is playing great defense, giving me a lot, our power forward position is really big, and Jimmer Fredette is terrific, so the thing I am most proud about tonight is what I have emphasized in the last 48 hours: if you just rely on offense, you will be a mediocre team. If your defense is as good as your offense, you will be an outstanding team. All the way until the last possession tonight, they played their asses off on defense. The other thing I want to talk about is, if you remember, I was so repetitive last year with deflections, trying to get 35; I think we got it one time. Tonight, we got 34. We knew Baskonia was one of the best fastbreak teams and tonight, we wanted to get back and stop their break. We were 9-of-15 and they were 3-of-4. Field goal defense, 37% overall, so we played like we were one fist covering for each other. They made a couple of threes with no time on the clock, but we have a lot of potential. We are going to get a lot better. On a personal level, I absolutely loved coaching these guys last year and once again, they are quality people, quality players and I am just so excited to be back as the head coach."
PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"First of all, congratulations to Panathinaikos. I think we started the game [well] and stayed in the game, but as the game went to the end, we lost all power to have answers to Panathinaikos's great offensive skills today. They had a great shooting percentage and played very easily on offense. We had problems to score in the last two quarters and their advantage went up and we gave up in the last moments. We now have a lot of injured players and have problems to score in important, tough games. When you don't score, also your defense goes down. We played very good defense in a lot of games, but it is not easy to play on the road against great teams like today. When they score easy, you need to have answers to this. In those moments when you have problems scoring, the other team scores at all times and the results go down. This is what happened today."

Players

FREDETTE, JIMMER
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"I was able to get into my rhythm, go out there and play aggressive. And our team played great - we played good defensively, had great energy and the crowd was great. It was a good all-around team effort so I am just excited to come out with a good win against a really good team. Coach just wants us to take what the defense gives us and what he wants is to get it out quick, so if Nick [Calathes] is not open, available, I will get the ball on the other side and I can run the pick-and-roll or anything in transition. I think that really makes us really lethal in transition breaks, when two guys can handle. So he wants us to play aggressive, come off screens and do what you do, so it was a great performance for all of us."
CALATHES, NICK
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
"It feels nice. Obviously, Tyrese [Rice] played great, Jimmer [Fredette] played great and I think it was a great team effort, defensively and offensively, so we have to keep this up. I think we have a team that can go up and down and it is all about getting stops on defense and that turns into offense, but we looked great tonight. We were fresh, moved up and down, and made some shots."