Panathinaikos reunion not as sweet for Pitino’s second taste of Greece
Rick Pitino’s return to Panathinaikos was supposed to help the club realize its EuroLeague dream, but the Trifylli experienced a turbulent three-and-a-half months during Pitino’s second stint in Athens.
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Ever since news broke about Rick Pitino’s decision to return to college basketball with Iona College ahead of the 2020/2021 NCAA season, questions were raised about the American’s future with Panathinaikos.
While Panathinaikos opted to not make any official comment in the wake of Iona College’s announcement, sources close to the Trifylli camp suggested the club’s board was far from happy with the announcement.
It was no secret that Pitino was eyeing a return to college basketball after his controversial departure from Louisville in 2017. After all, Pitino left Panathinaikos at the end of the 2018/2019 season despite having an offer in place to stay on, after he managed the club into the EuroLeague playoffs while also securing a domestic double.
Pitino sighted family reasons for his decision to return to the United States last summer, indicating that his wife wouldn’t be pleased with him staying abroad for much longer.
With that in mind, it was quite the surprise when Pitino made a return to the Greek basketball scene in November as his offer to coach the Greek national team at the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament was accepted by Hellenic Basketball Federation president George Vassilakopoulos.
Pitino confirmed in his unveiling as head coach of the Ethniki that he wasn’t expecting a salary to coach the national team, suggesting that he was looking for some media exposure to perhaps land a job in the United States.
Everything changed, however, when less than three weeks after his appointment as Greece head coach the 67-year-old was announced as head coach of Panathinaikos for the second time. With Argyris Pedoulakis’ tenure called to premature end, Pitino was installed back on the Trifylli bench as the club’s brass hoped Pitino could help steer the club back into the EuroLeague playoffs and perhaps improve on last year’s performance.
Much like his debut with the club in the previous year, it all started swimmingly for Pitino on the Panathinaikos bench as the club won its first two EuroLeague outings under the American’s guidance. A commanding win over Baskonia followed by a thrilling derby defeat of archrivals Olympiacos suggested that Pitino should never have left Athens for the betterment of both parties.
Despite Pedoulakis’ faults on the continent, Panathinaikos were already sitting quite comfortably in the Basket League – allowing Pitino to focus his efforts on the EuroLeague.
But in spite of a strong start in the EuroLeague with those back-to-back wins, the club’s inconsistent form continued as the club would struggle to find consistency in Europe until a stretch of three successive wins in mid-to-late January.
At this point, Panathinaikos were still sitting quite comfortably in the table with a 13-8 record on the continent, and still just two games back of clinching a homecourt advantage in the playoffs – all the while the club had a four-game edge on ninth-place Fenerbahce.
But that served as the unexpected turning point for Panathinaikos as the club followed-up on a three-game win streak with just one win in their next seven EuroLeague outings – a streak that would cost almost any previous head coach their job.
Even with a couple of surprise defeats on the domestic front, Panathinaikos stuck with Pitino as the EuroLeague season was suspended due to the spread of the coronavirus across Europe in early March.
That decision was even more surprising given the climate the club after Pitino’s comments in the media about the club’s inability to spend big money in the transfer market while also indicating that he didn’t have much depth at his disposal.
So, when Panathinaikos decided to sign Andy Rautins at Pitino’s recommendation, it was expected that the tension between Pitino and the board would be quelled. But a lot of that would depend on Rautins’ ability to help elevate Panathinaikos, and unfortunately for Pitino that signing didn’t pan out to what he perhaps expected.
Thus, when the news about Pitino and Iona College made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic, it seemed like a perfect way for Panathinaikos to begin looking at an exit strategy.
A few days after the announcement by Iona, Pitino tweeted a thank you to Panathinaikos, including a thank you to Giannakopoulos and the fans – suggesting that the end of the Pitino era in Greece was nearing an end. As expected, Panathinaikos announced his departure just days later to put an end to Pitino’s second run in Greece – a stretch that was far less impressive than the first go-around just one year ago.
