Panathinaikos
Location: Athens, Greece
Arena: OAKA [18.500]
Sites: Official Homepage [Greek/English], Euroleague.net Profile
Budget*: 33.000.000€
Attendances: Euroleague 08/09
*Estimated 08/09 overall budget
Characteristics
Panathinaikos, also known as PAO, is one of Europe’s biggest and most successful ballclubs. The basketball team is owned by brothers Pavlos and Thanassis Giannakopoulos, both pharmaceutical magnates and multimillionaires, who have blessed the club with legendary players over the years. Big names such as Nikos Galis, Dominique Wilkins, Zeljko Rebraca and Dejan Bodiroga - just to name a few - have starred in the green jersey over the last decades, bringing home 29 [including the last 6] Greek championships, 12 [including the last 5] cup titles, 2 European Cup championships, and 3 Euroleague titles, most recently winning it in 08/09. Their supporters are extremely passionate, loud, and considered to be among the most creative in European basketball. Panathinaikos’ fierce rivalry with neighbour Olympiacos is one of the biggest in all of sports.
Headcoach: Zeljko Obradovic [Serbia]
A living legend in European basketball, Obradovic has won seven European Cup championships over the years with four different teams, including three Euroleague titles, as well as a Eurobasket[1997] and a World Championship[1998] in charge as headcoach of the former Yugoslavia. A decent point guard in his playing career, but Obradovic will always be remembered as one of Europe’s best coaches. He joined Panathinaikos in 1999, winning the Greek league in every year but once since, bringing home three European Cup championships and a Euroleague crown. Obradovic puts emphasis on discipline and hard work, but he is not a sovereign as one might think, allowing his assistant Dimitris Itoudis to make decisions on his own as well. Additionally, he has been giving his players a lot of freedom and creativity on the court in the last couple of years.
Depth Chart
| PG/SG Dimitris Diamantidis |
PG Nick Calathes | ||
| PG/SG Vassilis Spanoulis | SG Drew Nicholas |
SG/SF Nikos Chatzivrettas | |
| SF Stratos Perperoglou | SG/SF Milenko Tepic | ||
| PF Antonis Fotsis | PF/C Kostas Tsartsaris | SF/PF Dusan Sakota | |
| C Nikola Pekovic | PF/C Mike Batiste | C Giorgi Shermadini |
Contracts/Salaries*
| Name | 08/09 | 09/10 | 10/11 | 11/12 | 12/13 | |
| Mike Batiste | 1.400.000 | 1.500.000 | ||||
| Nick Calathes** | 783.000² | 783.000 | 1.281.000³ | |||
| Nikos Chatzivrettas | 700.000 | |||||
| Dimitris Diamantidis | 1.900.000 | 2.100.000 | ||||
| Antonis Fotsis | 1.500.000 | 1.500.000 | 1.500.000 | |||
| Sarunas Jasikevicius | 3.500.000 | |||||
| Drew Nicholas | 1.300.000 | 1.300.000 | ||||
| Nikola Pekovic*** | 1.300.000 | 1.300.000 | 1.300.000 | |||
| Stratos Perperoglou | 350.000 | 450.000 | 450.000 | |||
| Dusan Sakota | x | |||||
| Giorgi Shermadini*** | x | x | x | x | ||
| Vassilis Spanoulis | 1.800.000 |
1.900.000 |
||||
| Milenko Tepic | 800.000 | 800.000 | 800.000 | |||
| Kostas Tsartsaris | 1.000.000 |
1.000.000 |
||||
| Dimitrios Verginis |
425.000 |
425.000 |
425.000 | 425.000 |
option
loaned to another team
loaned from another team
*All salaries in Euros, after taxes. As opposed to the NBA franchises, European ballclubs are not obligated to make contract details official to the public. Most of the clubs give information about contract lengths, but only few make official player salaries. The salaries accumulated here are coming from many different sources. Of course there’s a good chance they aren not one hundred percent accurate. However, none of them are our own estimations.
**NBA opt out after every season; NBA buyout: 500.000€
***NBA opt out after every season
²1.100.000$ as of June the 9th 2009
³1.800.000$ as of June the 9th 2009
On-court characteristics
- four shooters spreading the floor at most times, while centers Nikola Pekovic and Mike Batiste are huge forces inside
- a team consisting of some very good individual defenders, try to switch on most screens and are not afraid to give up unusual matchups
- play a rather unstructured game on offense, heavily relying on the high pick and roll, where the star guard-trio of Dimitris Diamantidis, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Vassilis Spanoulis is trusted in to make the right decisions; everything revolves around that play and the opportunities it creates
- utilise Diamantidis, Pekovic, Batiste and forward Stratos Perperoglou in the lowpost
- try to make the opposing defense rotate, players are very skilled to make the right passes on the perimeter; they drive and dish sometimes several times on one possession
- create open looks en masse due to excellent passing, but lack deadly shooters to make the defense pay
- are always in danger of relying a bit too much on the outside shot
Related Articles: Panathinaikos Pick and Roll tactics at 2009 Euroleague Final Four in Berlin
Key play
This play contains basically two options: Getting Dimitris Diamantidis into the lowpost position, or playing the high pick and roll with usually Jasikevicius/Spanoulis - Batiste/Pekovic. Everything else is a reaction on how the defense defends that play. PG [Diamantidis] passes entry to SG, then goes around the C’s screen into lowpost position. If the pass is not there, SG and C work the pick and roll, while Diamantidis spreads to the corner. It is almost always a hard roll to the basket by the big man, only rarily a pick and pop. Two shooters SF and PF wait on the weakside.
