EUROLEAGUE: “When Panathinaikos Athens downed Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir last week in its Turkish Airlines Euroleague home opener, one player shined brighter than everyone else. High-flying forward James Gist is well-known for his dunks and spectacular plays; in fact no other player makes it to the Euroleague’s weekly Top 10 plays more often. Gist offered a little bit of everything in the victory as he posted a career-high 27 points, 6 rebounds, 3-of-3 three-point shooting, 2 assists, a steal, a block and of course, four outstanding slams that energized the Panathinaikos faithful. In this fourth season with the Greens, Gist’s numbers keep improving; he is averaging 15.5 points so far this season. Panathinaikos faces FC Barcelona Lassa on the road this week, which Gist sees as another opportunity to keep improving, as he told Javier Gancedo of Euroleague.net in this interview. “It is all about getting better every year. I don’t want to come back here at the same level,” Gist said. “I just want to get better.” Hello, James. Panathinaikos bounced back from its season-opening loss with a convincing win against Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir. How important was that? “Well, it is early. It is a long season. We have a lot of regular season games to play, but didn’t want to go down 0-2 and play in Barcelona this week. It was a big win for us and we have to get ready for the next game on the road.” More..
