By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
If you are an old school basketball fan, you probably know Aris BC, the team that dominated the basketball scene in Greece during the eighties with Hall of Famer Nick Galis leading the show.
However, every dynasty needs a rival, where there’s ying, there’s also yang and that’s the story of PAOK.
PAOK is the main rival of Aris, as both teams hail from Thessaloniki, and the rise of Aris helped also PAOK became a European powerhouse. That’s not just words. PAOK has won two Greek League titles, three Greek Cup, a European Cups winners’ cup and also a Korac Cup.
For many years, PAOK was not just a relevant team in Europe, but a title contender which, among others, produced Peja Stojakovic.
Things are not the same after 20 years. PAOK is still one of the biggest clubs in Greece and while the football team, thanks to a wealthy owner, is currently leading the Greek league, the story is not the same in basketball.
With very few resources available, PAOK is trying to regain a part of its old glory and at least on January that was the case.
PAOK still has to play against Fribourg Olympic before the end of the month, but so far they have won six out of the seven games they have already played in the first month of 2019.
They lost only to Nanterre 92 on the road (79-70) while beating Hapoel Holon and Opava and also all their Greek league games against Kolossos, Peristeri, Rethymnon and last weekend against the defending Basketball Champions League champs, AEK BC.
Not bad at all, considering the fact that the team is asking from their fans to contribute financially to the basketball section well-being via the #KeepPAOKalive campaign. The fans of the team can prepay tickets or merchandise in order to give a financial boost to the club.
Thanks to those wins, PAOK is currently tied on the third spot of Group B standings with Holon and Nanterre with a 7-5 record. A strong finish on the road against Fribourg and at home against already qualified Iberostar Tenerife on the last day of the regular season can more than seal the deal for the Greeks.
Coach Ilias Papatheodorou, a European champion with the Greek U20 and u18 national team, Williams Hatcher who scored 27 points in the Greek league game against AEK and the rest of the gang seem to be up for the challenge and plans are already made for the Round of 16.
So while the fans of the club are called to keep the team alive, on the court PAOK is alive and kicking without a doubt.