Credit: Vangelis Stolis
Credit Vangelis Stolis

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens comfortably beat Larissa in crucial Game 5 of the Greek League semifinal and clinched the spot in the final, but it wasn't the main talking point of the game.

Free throws this season

80%
12,7
Points made: 12,7
Accuracy: 80,3%
Place in standings: 8
Record max: 25
Record min: 4
Most made FTs: Daryl Macon

After a two-year absence, Panathinaikos' owner and former president, Dimitris Giannakopoulos, decided to attend a game in the OAKA.

However, his presence in the game was very short. The Greens' owner left the arena almost midway through the second quarter of Game 5 after some home fans were repeatedly calling him out.

The chants against Giannakopoulos kept on for almost five minutes while the DJ tried to drown them out by putting Panathinaikos' anthem on loudspeakers.

If fans had their reasons for singing chants against Giannakopoulos, captain Ioannis Papapetrou and coach Giorgos Vovoras stood on the other side of the spectrum. Finishing his post-game interview with Greek public television, Papapetrou addressed what has been a thorny issue without being afraid to take sides. 

"I want to say that everyone in the club is very happy that the team owner came to the arena," said Papapetrou. "We had his support after two years. It gives us a lot of strength and tremendous joy," the 28-year-old forward said on camera without being asked about it.

Then, Papapetrou went further by adding:

"I also want to talk about a small number of people who disapproved of his presence here. These people are harmful to Panathinaikos and must be isolated. I'm saying this from my heart. Everyone must support our effort, and we all should come together to achieve the team's goals."

Papapetrou wasn't alone on that one. PAO head coach Giorgos Vovoras concurred with his captain in the post-game presser. 

"I was very pleased to see that the team's major shareholder came to support us in a difficult moment for Panathinaikos. What was done by a small number of fans shouldn't cast us into a period of introversion because those behaviors don't represent the club," the Greek tactician pointed out.

After reaching the final for the 19th consecutive year, the Greens will start the best-of-five final series against Olympiacos Piraeus on Saturday (20:00 CEST).

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Ioannis Papapetrou

Ioannis  Papapetrou
Ioannis  Papapetrou
MIN: 29.07
PTS: 11.96 (48.18%)
REB: 3.17
As: 2.48
ST: 0.43
BL: 0.09
TO: 1.52
GM: 23