Obradovic Returns to Panathinaikos After 5,227 Days
The coach returned to the Panathinaikos bench after 14 years, and in his first game back led the team to a 91-72 win over Paris in the Euroleague opener, with a big welcome from the fans at OAKA.
Thousands of voices inside OAKA arena were already chanting one name before the opening tip: Zeljko Obradovic. The coach returned to the Panathinaikos bench on Thursday evening after 5,227 days, or 14 years since he last sat on that very bench, and the fans gave him a welcome that few coaches get before a Euroleague opener.
The energy from the stands carried onto the court. Panathinaikos routed Paris 91-72, and the quarter by quarter breakdown tells its own story: 31-17 in the first, 11-14 in the second, 27-13 in the third, and 22-28 in the fourth, by which point the home side already held a 25 point lead and could afford to play with the pressure off until the final buzzer.
Sylvain Francisco led the winning side with 18 points and four assists. Mathias Lessort came close to a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Guerschon Yabusele added 13 points. For the visitors, Tyson Etienne scored 17 points, and Nadir Hifi and Jared Rhoden each added 11.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Obradovic first addressed the performance itself.
“We continued playing the way we played in the preseason. It shows that every player wants to fight, wants to bring energy onto the court and give everything he has. We managed to stop their playmakers. It’s logical that there will be ups and downs, and that’s exactly what we need to work on, so we can build more automatic actions and score more easily. I’m very pleased with the way our team played. I hope we can keep improving and keep our aggressiveness.”
That is how the coach summed up the first ten practices of the new season.
On the return itself, to the arena where he once celebrated his biggest successes, Obradovic did not hide his emotions.
“I would like to say that the team comes above everything, and I’m very happy to be here. Thank you to everyone, this evening was truly special.”
Ahead of the start of the season, he also said that everyone on the roster would get a chance to fight for a rotation spot.
“It’s the start of the season. Everyone who plays the way I ask, who shows the desire, who helps the team, will definitely have a place, and everyone will get their chance. The season is long, there will be many games.”
It remains open when the players who are currently unavailable will return to the squad, and Obradovic is not rushing that. “I will never put pressure on any player if he isn’t one hundred percent ready,” he said, the same line he used before the start of the Euroleague season, when he explained that at that point no one on the team was fully ready for the workload of an entire season.
Panathinaikos now faces a double home round, first Asvel, then Maccabi, and only then will it become clear whether the opening win was a sign of a real season or just a good night against a weaker opponent. For Obradovic, every next game at OAKA is a new test of how quickly the team around him is coming together, and the answer arrives already in the next round.
