By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
The omens were particularly favorable for Alec Peters heading into 2021-22. At 26 years of age then, the American sharpshooting forward was coming off the top season of his career on an individual level and was gearing up for his second year with Baskonia in Spain. The only way was up and his momentum was at an all-time high.
But, during a prep game in September, Peters suffered a knee injury that required surgery and ultimately kept him sidelined for more than four months. It was the first time that he was forced to stay out of action for so long.
“You think you are invincible sometimes,” Peters told Eurohoops. “You think that nothing could happen. That it’s only going to get better and better and better. I think an injury like that puts perspective and humbles you and lets you know that hey you need to get back to focusing on the right things. Not that I wasn’t focusing on the right things. But it’s something that causes you to evaluate how to get better, how to recover better and do different things.
“It was a blessing in disguise.”
Peters’ offensive talents and particularly his considerable shooting prowess (a 43.2 percent career average on threes in EuroLeague) attracted the attention of Olympiacos Piraeus this summer. The former EuroLeague champion with CSKA Moscow found himself in an environment where a gunner of his type can thrive while playing for a coach (Giorgos Bartzokas) who’s quite fond of his style and can design all sorts of of actions for him to unleash some hell from the perimeter.
“It’s been great getting a feel for where I’m going to get my shots and what the offense looks like with me being part of it,” Peters said. “It’s a lot of opportunity for me this year to help our team with 3-point shooting.”
Before the season began, Peters spent time watching the 2022 EuroBasket. It was a competition that overall attracted unprecedented attention from the USA, mostly due to the presence of arguably three of the best five players on the planet right now: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.
Some (including yours truly) believe that when these three superstars exited the EuroBasket earlier than expected, then the interest from the U.S. media and fans almost ceased to exist. Peters, who spent his rookie year with the Phoenix Suns, thinks that there’s truly a fertile ground in the USA for European basketball to be marketed, grow and even become popular.
“The American audience is there for European basketball. Hopefully we can do a better job of exploiting that in the future,” Peters said.
Just before the official games of Olympiacos began, Peters sat down for an interview regarding his adjustment to his new squad, the reasons that he believes the Reds are a force to be reckoned wit in Europe, and his goals as a newly appointed member of the board of the EuroLeague Players Association (ELPA).
– Tell us what you think about the current status of the team.
– This first month has been great. We’ve really clicked well as a team. Even after the EuroBasket was finished and the players from the national teams came. It just seems like everybody’s really familiar with each other already. That’s only a good thing, only a good sign heading into the season. That we have consistency every day and that everybody gets to know each other better.
– The one thing that stands out from watching the preseason games is that you guys seem to be gelling very well, very early. What do you think about the chemistry that is being built?
– I think that coach [Giorgos] Bartzokas has done a very good job of making sure everybody is incorporated. That everybody knows the offense, knows the defense. Him and the coaches have been great about teaching us about the way that they want to play. Everybody’s bought into that. That’s important. Nobody is above anybody else. Nobody has an ego about who’s going to play, who’s gonna score. We just want to win. Everybody on the team wants to win and you can can see that in the preseason.
– You gave me the opportunity to jump to this question: Coach Bartzokas. He definitely likes his shooting. Traditionally, his EuroLeague teams have been at the top of the rankings in EuroLeague when it comes to 3-point attempts. His Khimki teams were first in 3-pointers, Olympiacos was fifth overall in 3-point attempts last season.
You like your shooting also. It’s safe to say that you feel right at home with his systems and his strategies?
– It’s been great getting a feel for where I’m going to get my shots and what the offense looks like with me being part of it. It’s a lot of opportunity for me this year to help our team with 3-point shooting. Not only me but some of the other new guys that we have as well.
Yeah. He’s a fan of it [shooting]. He doesn’t like it when you pass up open shots or pass up good shots. That’s a great thing to have from a coach who believes in you and he wants to you take the shot.
– You are mostly famous in EuroLeague for your 3-point shooting. That’s what you do, shooting is your business and business is good for you. We’ve seen you being involved in the systems of Olympiacos in other ways as well. You play the pick n’ roll as the big guy, you do more things, you post up.
Are we going to see more things from Alec Peters this season than we’ve seen in the previous seasons in EuroLeague?
– I’m at a point in my career where everything is starting to come together. I think I spent my first two seasons playing for really good, championship-caliber teams. Winning a championship and being a small role in that. In the last two years I was really able to become different. Become a different type of player. People know me for shooting threes but they are surprised when they see that I can do many other things and being effective in this league on the floor.
I’ve had the opportunity to do that already here. I can’t wait for during the season to be able to continue to take my career. Take our team and continue to be positive and go to a positive direction.
– This season comes after possibly the most difficult season for you. You had an injury in a 2021-22 preseason game. Then you have surgery and you miss a couple of months. It’s the first time in your career that you are out for so long.
Also, you arrived into the previous season from the best season (2020-21) of your career.
– After the best season of my career as you said, individually. Team-wise we didn’t really accomplish much but individually I had a decent season. You think you are invincible sometimes. You think that nothing could happen. That it’s only going to get better and better and better. I think an injury like that puts perspective and humbles you and let’s you know that hey you need to get back to focusing on the right things. Not that I wasn’t focusing on the right things. But it’s something that causes you to evaluate how to get better, how to recover better and do different things.
It was a blessing in disguise. I’m still thankful I was able to play half a season and showcase that I was healthy again. Nobody could put question marks that I couldn’t be back to a level I was on before.
– What kind of thoughts go into your mind? Especially because you never had such an injury. It was a new experience for you.
– It’s always tough when it’s the first time. You don’t know what’s supposed to feel like. What the recovery is going to be like. Are you going to be ahead of schedule, are you going to be late? I just really made sure that every day I had a good outlook on it. To know that I was going to get to play basketball again was very important. It wasn’t something that was going to stop me from being me again. I continued reminding myself of that every day.
– Have you watched any videos from the rivalry of Olympiacos vs. Panathinaikos?
– I think I’ve watched all of them on YouTube. I think I’ve seen everything.
– What impresses you the most?
– I can’t wait. It’s going to be addicting to be a part of that atmosphere. For good or for bad, just being a part of it. Hopefully, I think I’ll have some family visiting during some of those type of games so they can see it as well too. It’s going to be an absolute memory and a story to be a part of.
– Olympiacos enters the new season as a contender to make the Final Four at least. It makes sense since the team made the Final Four last year. The team stayed, more or less the same, it made some adjustments, some improvements on the roster and can only get better.
Do you see Olympiacos as a contender and, if yes, what do you think makes you a contender?
– Continuity is huge in the EuroLeague. You look at the champions of the past couple of years. They’ve had the same core of players and they just add pieces here and there and we are doing the same thing here. Keeping the same core of players who helped make that Final Four run last season but we’re adding depth, we’re adding some great veterans that have EuroLeague experience. I think it’s only going to be a better season for us with that.
– You told me that you watched the EuroBasket and you told me that people in USA were also watching the EuroBasket. And I was curious about it because, the way I saw it, at least on social media, when Greece was eliminated, when Slovenia was eliminated, when Serbia was eliminated – so when Giannis, Jokic and Doncic were out of the tournament – it seemed to me that the interest from USA disappeared overnight.
– I don’t see it like that. I think it’s [USA] the second largest market for basketball in the world besides China. It’s so prime to consume and watching basketball. And if you think of the time and day that European basketball is played. It’s during a time and day in the USA in the afternoon when nothing else is on TV and people are looking for something to watch. They are looking for something to bet on, they are looking for something to gamble on.
EuroLeague and clubs in general… the American audience is there for European basketball. Hopefully we can do a better job of exploiting that in the future. Because I think it’s perfect. Everyone loves their basketball there. And they love watching it just as much they like watching college and the NBA. You have an audience of people and it’s a time of day when they would just love to turn on a game and watch.
– So you really feel that American people can get interested in EuroLeague? And I’m talking about the bulk of the fans, not just the basketball fanatics.
– You ask anybody who’s watched a EuroLeague game whether on TV or in person. It’s addicting. That’s the best word to describe it. You can’t watch one game and think ‘I don’t want to see this.’ It’s addicting. Once you put it in front of people and they watch and they see the intensity, the moment-by-moment pressure that happens. You sit and you watch and you feel you are worked out from watching because your mind is blown by the level of play and how addicting it is to watch.
– You recently joined the board of the EuroLeague Players Association. Can you tell us some things about it. How did it happen, what are your goals with this role?
– I got very lucky. Someone nominated me for the position. It’s really an honor to be thought of like that amongst my peers and the people I’ve played against and I’ve played with. To be one of the seven guys that represent the players when it comes to any matters that come in hand. It really makes you feel good that someone thinks of you as someone who’s reliable, someone who’s a leader. It’s something I’ve been priding myself on that seems to show very well.
I’m sure there are a lot of things that we try to tackle as players because we’re always looking to improve whether it’s the league, or situation with clubs. From my standpoint I can’t wait to be part of those changes. I can’t wait to help lead the charge on some of those things that are important to the players.