Obradovic: Panatinaikos Not 100 Percent Before Paris
Ahead of Panatinaikos' Euroleague opener against Paris, Zeljko Obradovic admits his team isn't fully ready after a preseason disrupted by injuries and national team duty.
The media room in Athens was packed the day before the first round of the Euroleague, and the man sitting at the table knew that crowd well. Zeljko Obradovic returned to the Panatinaikos bench 14 years after his first stint at the club ended, a run during which he built one of the most successful eras in European club basketball history. Tonight, Thursday, September 24, that new chapter opens against Paris.
Preseason didn’t go smoothly. Injuries hit several players, and part of the squad joined training late because of national team duty, so Panatinaikos never had its full roster together. Obradovic made no secret of it.
“There were injuries, some players were away with their national teams. We played friendly games, and I’m satisfied with how we fought. We all trained together for ten days, not counting the injured players. No one is 100 percent, but we have games ahead of us and players prefer games to training. We have to prepare and fight the way we did in our last game against PAOK,” Obradovic said at the press conference ahead of the match with Paris.
That reference to the PAOK game wasn’t accidental. Panatinaikos won the Pavlos Janakopulos Memorial Tournament before the season, beating PAOK 87-81 in the final. For now, that’s the only real indicator of form for a team still searching for its rhythm.
The attention surrounding Obradovic’s return to Athens is considerable, but the coach doesn’t want it to overshadow the game against Paris.
“The first Euroleague game is special. Personal matters aren’t important. My thoughts are focused on preparing for the game. My concentration is on the match,” he said, keeping the focus off himself and on the opener.
Turning to the opponent, Obradovic was direct. Paris enters the season with a competitive rhythm Panatinaikos doesn’t yet have, having already won the French Super Cup and played official games. “We have a lot of information about Paris, they played the Super Cup. A lot of transition, a lot of three-point shots,” he said, summing up the opponent’s style in a few words.
Sources disagree on the exact kickoff time. HotSport reports a 9:15 p.m. start, while Telesport lists 8:15 p.m., a gap that matches the one-hour time difference between Athens and Belgrade.
This isn’t the first time this summer that Obradovic has spoken about the mood in the locker room. In an earlier piece on this outlet, he also said he doesn’t want unhappy players on the team, a stance that fits the picture of a coach who openly admits to problems ahead of the season but refuses to use them as an excuse.
For Panatinaikos, this game leaves no room for experiments. Ten days of work together, with players just returning from national team duty and injuries, isn’t the preparation Obradovic would have chosen if he’d had the choice. But there is no choice: the Euroleague starts tonight, and the Athens side will have to answer a team that’s already found its rhythm.
If Panatinaikos manages to impose its own tempo and shut down the Paris transition game Obradovic described, the season opener could turn out better than the preparation suggests. If not, it will be a reminder that ten days of training is hard to make up for against an opponent that has already opened its season with a win.
