Rick Pitino compared the atmosphere at Panathinaikos to that of his old Kentucky home as he won his EuroLeague debut as coach of the Greek club on Friday, 96-84 over CSKA Moscow.
Pitino may be thousands of miles from Kentucky's Rupp Arena, where he coached from 1989-97, or KFC Yum! Center, where he worked as Lousiville coach until his firing last year, but he said the enthusiastic crowd in Athens had a familiar feel.
"It reminded me of Kentucky," he said after the game. "Just like that, and that's the highest compliment I give any crowd. Because I've always felt that in Kentucky basketball is a religion, and the fans tonight motivated us to play that type of defense.