By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Entering Tuesday’s game with a total of 23 points over 69:34 throughout his EuroLeague career, including three points in two games with Panathinaikos Aktor in the 2025-26 installment, Vassilis Toliopoulos erupted with a game-high 21 points on Tuesday against Kosner Baskonia in Telekom Center Athens.
“I’m really happy, first of all, to help my team get back on wins. As a player, I’m always ready. I don’t care about what happened in the past. I haven’t played for one month, one year, I don’t care. I will always be ready to help my team, and that’s what I did today,” explained the 29-year-old guard in the postgame interview.
From the pregame warmup and especially during a 14-point explosion over five minutes in the third quarter with 14 points, the supporters of the Greens were chanting his name.
“It was something unbelievable,” mentioned Toliopoulos. “I couldn’t imagine that I would be in this situation, with Panathinaikos fans yelling my name, in such a historic team. I can’t describe my feelings right now. I thank them all for the support.”
With Kendrick Nunn (left ankle) sitting out a second straight EuroLeague outing, T.J. Shorts II did not play, with Toliopoulos taking over for the team coached by Ergin Ataman. Konstantinos Mitoglou (right hamstring) and Mathias Lessort (left ankle) also remained sidelined, with Marius Grigonis out of the lineup as well.
Bouncing back on the win column, Panathinaikos improved to 14-9, sitting inside the Play-In Showdown zone and in the eighth seed, one game away from the top six, which guarantees a ticket to Playoffs 2026.