In front of 35,000 fans in Kallimarmaros and in an amazing atmosphere, Panathinaikos honored the memory of Pavlos Giannakopoulos. In the friendly match that accompanied the emotional celebration, under the moonlight and with autumn dew, the “greens” were defeated by Zeljko Obradović’s Partizan 75-64. At halftime, the Serbians led 36-27, while the difference reached 14 points.
About 3 thousand fans of the “trefoil” went to the Stadium with a march from Monastiraki, constantly shouting slogans. The photo of Pavlos Giannakopoulos adorned the seat that was left empty in his honor in the center of the stadium, while a special screen showed a video with moments from the life and tenure of the historic leader, who led Panathinaikos to win 6 European trophies.
Panathinaikos, who started with 0/10 three-pointers, played without the injured Lorenzo Brown and Giorgos Kalaitzakis. In the first half, Kostas Antetokounmpo left with a hand injury, while Matias Lessor and Kostas Slukas played little. Nan 16, Grant 11, Mitoglou 7, Papapetrou 7, Yurtseven 6, Osman 5 distinguished themselves.
Next week the Super Cup will be held in Rhodes, while the Euroleague starts on October 3.
Among the spectators of the match were many veteran aces of Panathinaikos and personalities from European basketball (Bodiroga, Vrankovics, etc.), but not Dimitris Giannakopoulos, who is serving a penalty of exclusion from the playing fields. In fact, the owner of Panathinaikos expressed his bitterness, with a personal announcement a few hours before the match. Ergin Ataman also expressed his annoyance in statements he made before the match: “I feel surprised that the man who created the most beautiful sports event in Greece is not here.”
In the opening match of the one-day tournament, Efes Anadolu defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 89-66. On Friday night, in an unofficial friendly, Panathinaikos was defeated by Maccabi 73-81 (Nan 13, Osman 13). The match took place behind closed doors in Glyfada.
#Basketball #Pandemonium #Kallimarmaro #memory #Giannakopoulos
