By George Adamopoulos / info@eurohoops.net
Voice steady, as the release on his shot. Calm words yet oozing with confidence. Alec Peters knows who he is. However, he also knows who he is not!
The American forward of Olympiacos, one of the top players in the preseason and the first official games, turns his head at the address “Alekos”(!), but he won’t answer if someone calls him “anti-Vezenkov”. Not even if he hears the description “Alec Peters 2.0”.
The former player of the Suns, CSKA, Efes, and Baskonia says he is ready to take the place of last year’s Euroleague MVP in the starting lineup, but points out that “obviously there is no replacement for Sasha and Sloukas“. Making it clear that his team will fill their gaps with the Reds’ well-known teamwork. Peters doesn’t feel like a “new player”, because of the increased responsibilities he prepares for.
Instead, he talks to Eurohoops about the importance of Milutinov and Fall’s coexistence in the low post, and recalls Olympiacos‘ toughness and the “confidence in the coach Bartzokas’ system”. Expecting the birth of his daughter in a few weeks, Alec Peters makes no secret of the fact that he feels Greece as home and would not mind if he had in the future a “Greek name”, like Thomas Walkup, nicknamed “Walkupopoulos” after getting a Greek passport.
“My role is totally embraced by myself”
– Last summer you faced as a team various ins and outs of the roster, but Olympiacos played in the Final Four for consecutive years. This summer there are also a few newcomers. Is chemistry a priority that requires time for the upcoming season?
“Chemistry is a huge part of any successful team. You‘ve seen in years past, that the teams that have been the most successful have kept a group of players, most of their players intact and they just built from there. This year is no different for us, returning a lot of the same guys and some have been here for two seasons, adding great pieces, and great players on top of that. So, those guys fit in very well, immediately. We can see it right now, especially in practice and preseason games, that the chemistry is there”.
– Adjustments are a great deal in sports. Last season you played behind the Euroleague MVP. How do you handle a situation like that?
“You got to enjoy every day of your job, playing basketball. You have to take every day and say ‘This is the best thing for me and in my life, which to play basketball for a living, either is playing every minute or a few minutes’. This is a huge blessing for me and I was very fortunate to be able to play with and in the same kind of position with Sasha Vezenkov, the MVP of Euroleague. It was great to practice against him, to play with him and all of us were extremely fortunate to be a part of that, in the special season he had”.
– In a situation like that, how does a player prepare himself to be ready when his number is called?
“You have to practice harder than everybody else. That’s the key. Got to try to stay in shape as much as you can, because you never know. It could be 20 minutes, it could be five minutes. You are kind of an unpredictable spot and you are relying on your experience. That’s the key for me, knowing how to play that role and do what is needed for the team at a time and it is totally embraced by myself and by the coach and the team”.
