Greek team Panathinaikos must not repeat the mistakes made in two earlier defeats to CSKA Moscow when the two teams face off at the Euroleague Final Four, Panathinaikos guard Dimitris Diamantidis said Thursday.
CSKA face the Greek champions for the third time this season in the Euroleague semifinal Saturday.
The Muscovites won the first two games, a narrow 78-76 victory in Athens in November and a more emphatic 91-75 in Moscow in December during the first group stage.
“We’ve played CSKA twice and lost twice. We made a lot of mistakes them, but I hope those mistakes are behind us. I hope we won’t repeat them at the Final Four,” Diamantidis said.
“In the semifinal we’ll meet a strong team and do everything we can for success. We’ll get through the match with CSKA and play in the final.”
Earlier Thursday, CSKA center Nenad Krstic told RIA Novosti that the form book is irrelevant to games at the Final Four.
“It’ll be a tough game but we know how to play games like this,” former New Jersey Nets star Krstic said.
“We’ve met them twice already this season, but those games have no significance because the Final Four will be a special game. These games are decided by one throw, or one player.”
Diamantidis is the star of Panathinaikos but focusing too heavily on him could lead CSKA to overlook the threat posed by his teammates, such as former Memphis Grizzlies center Mike Batiste or ex-Indiana Pacers point guard Saruna Jasikevicius, CSKA point guard Milos Teodosic told RIA Novosti on Monday.
“Obviously the main player in Panathinaikos is Diamantidis. He’s one of the best players in Europe. I really respect him as a player,” he said.
“We can’t put him on a pedestal ahead of Panathinaikos’ other players, ones like Batiste or Jasikevicius,” he said.
Diamantidis was named Euroleague MVP and Final Four MVP as Panathinaikos charged to the 2011 Euroleague title, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 78-70 in the final in Barcelona.
CSKA will be chasing its second Euroleague championship in the modern era in Istanbul, and its first title since 2008. The other semifinal pits Greek team Olympiacos against Spain’s Barcelona.
