Panathinaikos and Olympiacos Face a New Reality

After a disappointing trip to Abu Dhabi, both Ergin Ataman’s Panathinaikos and Georgios Bartzokas and Olympiacos face a Greek finals with a different flavour. The best of five series, which starts on Friday, holds more weight than usual.

Excluding the seasons where Olympiacos opted out of playing in the Greek League due to its dispute with the federation, you have to go back to 2005 for the last finals series that didn’t feature both the Reds and Panathinaikos. It is inevitable that the sides, currently coached by Ergin Ataman and Georgios Bartzokas, will meet in the title deciding series every year.

What makes this campaign different is what happened on Friday night. First Panathinaikos, the reigning Euroleague champions, fell to Fenerbahce. Then Olympiacos ensured a worst possible Euroleague Final Four for the Greek clubs by falling to AS Monaco. Coming out of Abu Dhabi, both sides need the lift that would come with local bragging rights.

Plenty to discuss

The failure of both sides on Friday of course led to some interesting fallout. Not least of which was the most irrelevant Greek derby in living memory, the third place game in Abu Dhabi. While the game didn’t matter, both coaches told Alberto Marzaglia of Eurodevotion plenty to stir the pot.

Ergin Ataman of Panathinaikos for his part said he was glad this would, at least he believed, be the last ever third place game in Euroleague. It’s a bane of the existence of the sport that deserves a better replacement. For Ataman, he felt it was taking two days away from the Greens getting ready for the Greek finals series.

Georgios Bartzokas for his part spoke of players who play for the club vs those that play for the contract. This was obviously pointed at the attitudes of certain players in his side. This was a fourth straight trip to the Euroleague Final Four for Olympiacos, and a fourth straight without the trophy.

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The future of Bartzokas

Georgios Bartzokas is a proud man, an honest man, and, most importantly, a good man. While he may have pointed to issues with his players, there’s no doubt that not taking the crown in Abu Dhabi will weigh heavily on him.

Olympiacos built up a roster this year with depth designed to guarantee that it won the Euroleague title. Instead, the Reds fell at the first hurdle for the third time in their four straight appearances at the final weekend of the season. This Greek finals series with Panathinaikos, which starts on Friday, may well be his last leading the Reds.

Olympiacos is part of this man’s heart and he will take responsibility for the disappointment in Abu Dhabi. I don’t like to use the word failure in this context. Reaching a Euroleague Final Four is an achievement. If anything, Bartzokas is a victim of success. Having gotten so close, so often, to raising the trophy, he may feel it is time for the Reds to replace him on the sideline.

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The impact of Ataman

Ergin Ataman should see this season as a success already. He led Panathinaikos to the Greek Cup title and back to the Euroleague Final Four. That’s a fine performance in a season irrespective of what happens in this series.

He, of course, won’t view things that way. For Ataman, the bare minimum from the season would have been making Abu Dhabi and winning this upcoming Greek finals series. A successful year would have required winning both. That’s, at least, how he would view it.

Therefore a successful campaign by his standards is off the table. The bare minimum is on the agenda now. With neither Panathinaikos nor Olympiacos faring well in Abu Dhabi, bragging rights with this championship would give him something to fuel him heading into the summer.

A time of flux

The discussions of player moves on both sides of this rivalry are already intense. TJ Shorts appears to not be joining up with Tuomas Ilsalo in the NBA. Instead, he seems to be the first player targeted by Ergin Ataman’s Panathinaikos this off-season.

Nigel Williams Goss and Moses Wright appear to both be going from Olympiacos to Zalgiris Kaunas. Tyson Carter of Unicaja Malaga, who hasn’t even finished his regular season, seems destined for Piraeus. Whether Georgios Bartzokas will even be the one overseeing this reshuffled roster remains a debate.

That oddly means the Greek finals add a touch of normalcy at a chaotic time of year. Two teams will, as they usually do in the early summer, face off for a championship. Their eyes may already be on a Euroleague title tilt in a year but the side more focused on this title will likely wear its crown.

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