Grandpa Pitino rejuvenated Panathinaikos
Grandpa Pitino rejuvenated Panathinaikos
Because now is a trend of grandpa coaches coming from NBA to Europe, Panathinaikos said “we’re in”, we adopt one! Especially after coach Larry Brown left Torino, we have to maintain somehow constant the numbers of American grandpa coaches on our continent, in order to prevent the loss of this endangered species.
But, Rick Pitino actually did a good job waking up the team and giving them the only element was missing before: heart. It’s the same weak team of Panathinaikos from last weeks (now also without the injured Keith Langford), but now they fight as devils on both side of the court. They start to defend better, to be responsible for every possession and even to score more.
The best moment of Pitino’s first game with the Greens was the time-out in the 4th quarter when CSKA cut the deficit to just 2 points, 72-70 after an 8 points run. That time-out had the best effect and the Greek players came back on the court with the will of destroying CSKA. In a couple of minutes, they were 17 ahead of the Russians., eventually winning with 96-84. That was the real turning point of the game, which shows us that the motivation and the concentration are the keys for good results.
Gratian Cormos, info@brainbasketball.net
Grandpa Pitino rejuvenated Panathinaikos
