Rick Pitino’s Panathinaikos team has advanced to the finals of the Greek Cup in bizarre circumstances.
Pitino’s team was leading Olympiacos 40-25 at halftime. As they prepared for the second half, they waited for Olympiacos to emerge from the locker room, but that never happened.
NEVER IN MY LIFE…CRAZY GAME AT OAKA. 20 MINUTES CUP SEMIS, OLYMPIACOS FORFEITS VS PANATHINAKOS AND LEAVES THE GYM. pic.twitter.com/jZbuExFQEW
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) February 13, 2019
Olympiacos forfeited the game in protest of the referees. Pitino wrote about it on Twitter, saying he’d never experienced anything like it.
Well in 42 years of coaching I, thought I had seen it all. Up 15 at halftime. Motivating my team to come out with great intensity the first 5 minutes. We were fired up except Olympiakos never came back out. Game over. Onto the Greek Cup finals in Crete on Sunday #paobc
— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) February 13, 2019
The oddities didn’t end there — Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos put a pair of women’s underwear on the Olympiacos bench after their forfeit.
Basketball:
Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 13.02.2019.Olympiacos left the game at halftime while complaining about the referees.
After that Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos put a pair of woman’s underwear on the empty bench of Olympiacos. pic.twitter.com/NVXNWF8wg1— When Sunday Comes (@WSCsupporters) February 13, 2019
Things are just completely different in Greece. It’s something Pitino needs to get used to. As for Olympiacos, when you’re in the same category as LaVar Ball, that’s never a good sign.
