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PAO looking to defend their title

Three days ago Panathinaikos were struggling against Rethymno and won the game with just a few seconds left on the clock. But, their coach later admitted that he was experimenting a lot and that the result was irrelevant to him that day.

Rethymno changed a lot of their players during the summer. Last year they were known for their run-and-gun style of play with lots of 3-pointer attempts, but also for a great defense that got them to the semi-finals in the playoffs. Only three important players from the last year are still at the club - Kallinikidis, Latovic and Angelopulos. All of the other key players have left the club and also head-coach Koufos is no longer with them. So, this season we should see a brand new Rethymno but, considering their roster, these departures doesn't necessarily mean that their style of play will be different from the last year.

They have 4 USA-born players in the team and that is a solid guarantee for another year of gun-and-run basketball. Two forwards Pruitt and Hurtt should dictate their tempo, and these two players were among their best in the pre-season (alongside very strong Alexander in the paint).

They looked really good in the pre-season and it seems like the players won't need much time to get to know each other. They showed that in the very even match against Panathinaikos, although PAO's coach was experimenting a lot in that game. But, head-coach Giaples was still very pleased to see his team perform like they did that day:

- I am very satisfied with what have we done in the pre-season. We have shown that we are more than capable for playing against anyone. Panathinaikos weren't at their best, true, but playing an even match with that kind of opponent really filled us with confidence. We play good defense, and now need to work on our offense. If we improve in that area I have no fear for our results this season - Giaples said.

In the aforementioned match they lost to Panathinaikos 83-77 but, as their coach said, the fact they were able to play an even match against them meant a lot to his players:

- We were on their level in almost all aspects of the game. But, we shouldn't fool ourselves. They are miles ahead of us and we are aware that the things wouldn't have ended like they did if we were playing for points that day - Giaples added.

And he is probably right. Panathinaikos probably won't start this match as relaxed as they were three days ago and their forward Maciulis also believes that:

- This is our first official game of the season and we must be completely focused. Rethymno are a very tough team and we had a chance to see that las Sunday. If we are to win this match, we need to be focused from the very beginning. That is the only was to win against them - he said.

Maciulis might have exaggerated just a little bit, but the message was sent - they won't underestimate their today's opponent. It is clear that PAO are still not playing their best game, and coach Pedoulakis agrees with that:

- We are still in the process of creating our style of play and this right now is not Panathinaikos you will be watching in the mid-season. We are working hard on our defense, and the results are showing. But we will get even better in that area - Pedoulakis said.

Just a reminder, PAO started the season slowly last year and Pedoulakis was largely criticized because of that. But, as soon as their defense started to perform like the coach intended the critics were shut down. A similar story should be expected this year, although they didn't change a lot of players and the new signings are mostly home-grown players and it won't take them much time to adapt to the conditions at PAO. It is a complete different story from the last year's pre-season when they changed the team completely.

This year PAO really looks impressive. They are well-covered in all positions and the key players now have 1 year of experience playing with each other. Also, new signing Batiste should really improve their defensive performances. So, it was really interesting to hear the explanation from coach Pedoulakis when asked why did they allow Rethymno to score them 77 points in the pre-season game:

- That wasn't a real competitive game. I was experimenting a lot in that match. In the first half I played the players that didn't really spent much time on the court with each other and also players that aren't really strong in the defense. I wanted to show them how important good defense really is. That was the main reason why they were able to score that much points against us - he said.

As soon as Pedoulakis put his real starting lineup on the court, they started to perform better and, mainly because of the good defense, they were able to turn the score around. We should see a similar match today, except the fact that the home team coach probably won't be experimenting much in the first half...

Rethymno and Panathinaikos played a friendly match three days ago. PAO's coach was experimenting a lot that day and later he even said that they intentionally didn't play good defense in the first half. In the end, they still managed to win the game with 6 points advantage. That really didn't surprise anyone and even Rethymno's coach Giaples later admitted that Panathinaikos are miles ahead of them right now. Last year PAO won their matches against Rethymno with ease (+47 and +27) and since then Rethymno have changed a lot of their players and it will take time for them to start perform good again. On the other side, PAO have kept almost all of their key players and they have also signed 3-4 new players so now they are an even stronger team. They will not underestimate Rethymno today as their players have repeatedly stated that they are all very focused on today's game. That means they will be very aggressive in the defense and it is hard to believe that Rethymno will find a solution for their defensive game. Even the fact that this is the first game of the season is something that speaks in favor of PAO. Unlike Rethymno, they didn't change their team much during the summer so their teamwork shouldn't suffer. Fatigue also shouldn't be an issue for PAO as only Maciulis played lots of matches this summer. Greece was out of the Eurobasket very early so Greek internationals in the PAO team had lots of time to rest. Their key players such as Diamantdis, Batiste, Lasme and Gista weren't even competing at Eurobasket so fatigue certainly won't be an issue for them. These two team come from two different dimensions and PAO should secure a double-digit win with ease.