2008-09Regular SeasonRound 2
October 29, 2008 CET: 19:45
Local time: 20:45 NATIONAL ATHLETIC CENTER "MAKIS LIOUGAS"

CSKA Moscow routed Panionios On Telecoms 52-86

The first Euroleague home game for Panionos On Telecoms this decade came with an inconvenient detail for the hosts: the name of the opponent. The reigning Euroleague champions from CSKA Moscow took no pity on Panionios in its Group D home opener and rolled to a 52-86 victory in which some history was amde in Athens on Wednesday. That didn't dampen the spirits of the local fans, however, as they stayed on their feet chanting all the way to the final buzzer. CSKA took control early and kept adding chunks to the lead until the game was out of reach for Panionios soon after halftime. CSKA's inside advantage was illustrated by 59% two-point shooting (25 for 42), a 24-45 rebounding advantage and 7 blocked shots to zero by Panionios. Erazem Lorbek led the winners with 17 points, while Nikos Zisis came off the bench to add 14 and J.R. Holden netetd 8 in becomming the third player in Euroleague Basketball history to reach the 2,000 point mark. Despite suffocating defense throughout by the visitors, Panionios got 14 points from Branko Cvetkovic, 11 from Ioannis Kalambokis and 10 from Goran Nikolic. CSKA improved to 2-0 in Group D while Panionios continues to look for a first victory.

CSKA started by anchoring its game in the paint, a tactic meant to cause foul trouble to Lonny Baxter, and Lorbek did not disappoint his head coach, Ettore Messina. Lorbek scored 5 points as the visitors took a quick 6-7 lead. Goran Nikolic responded from beyond the arc for Panionios, only to be copied by Holden, who regained the lead for CSKA at 9-10. Lorbek took over again with 5 more points, one basket on a nice feed from Holden, as CSKA pulled away to a 9-15 advantage After a timeout, Trajan Langdon added a triple for the guests despite some tough defense. With his team looking at the wrong side of a 9-20 scoreboard, Kalambokis ignited a 5-0 run for Panionios to bring the crowd to its feet. However, Holden scored an unbelievable triple to close the quarter at 14-23.

Zisis came off the bench to hit a jumper early in the second quarter for CSKA. A few possessions later, Holden drove to make it 16-27. On the other end, Aaron Miles could not find any rhythm offensively and as a result Panionios was stalled. Soon, Lorbek connected on a three-pointer - reaching 15 points in as many minutes - as CSKA's lead soared to 20-36. CSKA was putting on its usual defensive clinic now to keep the hosts at bay and it wasn’t long before Zisis slashed to double the margin at 20-40. Ioannis Georgallis finally ended the dry spell for Panionios, only to be bettered by Morris, who knocked down a triple to emphatically show CSKA was in charge as it headed to the locker room with a resounding 24-45 halftime lead.

The second half got underway with Kalambokis scoring on a gutsy drive, but Langdon retorted with a triple. As long as CSKA was finding its way to the basket, Panionios could not swing the momentum back its way. Soon, Ramunas Siskauskas hit an off-balance jumper to send the advantage up to the 20-point region again, midway through the quarter. The guests were too talented and too efficient to let Panionios even think of a comeback. The fans never stopped encouraging the hosts and they erupted when Miles finished a fastbreak with a one-handed dunk to make it 35-57. Panionios picked up its defensive intensity, however Zoran Planinic rose up to the occasion with one of his patented drives for CSKA. As such, CSKA breezed to a 40-63 margin heading into the game's final 10 minutes.

Morris sank a triple from the corner to get the scoreboard rolling in the fourth quarter and Planinic followed with a three-point bomb of his own as CSKA lead exploded to 42-73. Panionios was gasping for breath against the stifling CSKA defense, whereas on the other end Planinic was orchestrating the offense and Zisis was taking and hitting good shots. The current Euroleague champion was downright dominant, as indicated by the final score, 52-86, and the fans had no other chance but to recognize CSKA's brilliance with a classy series of ovations and chants.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Epameinondas Tsakalos, Athens
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Referees: JUNGEBRAND, CARL; JASEVICIUS, TOMAS; SABETTA, ENRICO
Attendance: 4500
By Quarter1234
Panionios On Telecoms14101612
CSKA Moscow23221823
End of Quarter1234
Panionios On Telecoms14244052
CSKA Moscow23456386
Panionios On Telecoms
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 XANTHOPOULOS, VASSILIS 12:15   0/1 0/1             2     2   -6
5 CVETKOVIC, BRANKO 32:44 14 4/12 1/3 3/4 1 1 2   2     1 3 4 7
7 GEORGALLIS, IOANNIS 15:05 2 1/4 0/1   1 1 2 3 2       2   3
8 DRELIOZIS, PRODOMOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 PARAGYIOS, MICHAEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 KALAMPOKIS, GIANNIS 29:51 11 4/7 0/3 3/4       1 1     3 4 6 5
11 MILES, AARON 30:05 7 3/9 0/2 1/1 2 3 5 4   2   1 1 3 7
12 RAICEVIC, MIROSLAV 4:48         1 1 2 1         1   2
14 KENDALL, LEVON 24:36 4 2/4   0/2 1 3 4     1 1 1 2 2 3
16 KANONIDIS, ANDREAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
17 NIKOLIC, GORAN 32:03 10 1/5 2/3 2/2   2 2   1 1     2 2 7
18 BAXTER, LONNY 18:33 4 2/5       2 2     1 1 1 3   -1
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 52 17/47 3/13 9/13 6 14 20 9 6 7 2 7 20 17 28
        36.2% 23.1% 69.2%
Head coach: TRIFUNOVIC, ALEKSANDAR
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
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
6 ZISIS, NIKOS 24:51 14 7/10 0/1         2   1   1   1 11
7 KEYRU, VICTOR 7:49 3   1/1     1 1           1   3
9 SISKAUSKAS, RAMUNAS 24:35 6 2/5 0/2 2/2 1 4 5       1   1 4 10
10 HOLDEN, JR 23:47 8 1/3 2/3     1 1 3   2   1 1 4 9
12 LORBEK, ERAZEM 20:25 17 6/8 1/2 2/3 2 4 6 1 1 2       4 23
14 SAVRASENKO, ALEKSEY 14:07 4 2/5     2 3 5           2 1 5
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 5:33 4 2/3       2 2               5
21 LANGDON, TRAJAN 20:50 10 1/2 2/3 2/2   2 2 2   1     2 1 10
24 KAUN, SASHA 5:10       0/2 1 3 4 1   1     2 2 2
31 KHRYAPA, VICTOR 8:09 2 1/1       3 3   2 2 1   4   2
34 PLANINIC, ZORAN 18:08 9 2/3 1/2 2/2   3 3 1   1     3 2 9
44 MORRIS, TERENCE 26:36 9 1/2 2/2 1/2 1 8 9 2 1 1 5   1 1 23
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 86 25/42 9/16 9/13 8 37 45 12 4 11 7 2 17 20 116
        59.5% 56.3% 69.2%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE

Head Coaches

TRIFUNOVIC, ALEKSANDAR
Panionios On Telecoms
"I want to congratulate CSKA not only for their win, but also for their performance. I am the last one who will try to find an excuse for our poor performance, but the truth is that there were some factors that influenced the level of our performance tonight. We had some problems with our big guys. Baxter stayed all night in the hospital with stomach flu, whereas Raicevic and Kendall faced also some problems that did not allow us to prepare for tonight's game. Plus Giannoulis was sidelined with an injury. However, all these problems apart, I am not satisfied with our effort, especially on the defensive end. We shouldn't have allowed ourselves to be defensively outplayed by CSKA. The best example is Lorbek, who scored 17 points in the first half, but our frontcourt players did not even try to foul him. The guys who were guarding him had committed only one foul each. The Euroleague should be a lesson for us that will help us to become stronger and play better in the Greek League.”
MESSINA, ETTORE
CSKA Moscow
"We respect Panionios. We knew that they are well organized and disciplined on the court. We knew that we had to play a good game in order to win and so we did. We played very good defense and we stayed focused throughout the game. Yes, we play without Theodoros Papaloukas this season. In the beginning we weren't very happy with his decision to return to Greece, but eventually his departure gave us the chance to bring three new players to the team. It's easy to think about the glory days of the past, but we moved on and now we are starting to progress as a team and to obtain a better chemistry. Regarding Nikos Zisis, I'm very happy with his performance. It wasn't easy for him in the first year and also this summer probably was not his best summer with the national team. However, now he is playing with more confidence and is more aggressive. I hope that he continues like that without putting too much pressure on himself. He is a very good player."

Players

KENDALL, LEVON
Panionios On Telecoms
"It was a tough game. Coming out of a tough game on Sunday [in the Greek League], we were pretty tired today. We didn't have enough gas in our tank to be sharp, to be 100-percent competitive. However, we have to give them credit for what they did. We can learn a lot from this experience. I think that we got away from our game plan a little bit. We have to stick with that no matter what. It gave us a bit of a sense of where we stand and some motivation. We can do much better against a team like that, so we have to learn from this game and move on. It was interesting to play against this frontcourt. We allowed Lorbek to get comfortable and get rolling. So, then it was pretty hard, if not impossible, to make a run at them. We have to be aware of this next time and come out strong and focused."
ZISIS, NIKOS
CSKA Moscow
"I think that we were very effective early in the game and we didn't allow Panionios to play as well as they usually do. It was an important win for us, but now we should focus on our next game against Real Madrid, which could determine the winner of our group. I was shocked when I learned that I will not play in the Russian League, because it's difficult to find your rhythm when you play only in Europe. However, I try to work hard in practice and we will see what happens."
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