By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
You can’t spell Basketball without AEK, literally. Adding “Champions League” to it doesn’t change anything. After all, the black-and-gold Greek side has always been part of this family.
Since the introduction of the competition in 2016-17, AEK Athens hasn’t missed a single participation in the Basketball Champions League, always extending their campaign over the Regular Season except for the 2021-22 year, where they were eliminated on a 1-5 record in Group D.
Over the course of the years, they established themselves as one of the most recognizable powerhouses in the European league, going close to winning the title, like in 2020. Or by even lifting it, in 2017-18.
That memorable final played in Athens in front of a packed crowd against AS Monaco, back then still in the Basketball Champions League, won’t ever be forgotten.
Not only by Dragan and Dusan Sakota, the father-and-son duo that celebrated such an astonishing win together; not only by the veteran Mike Green and the upcoming talent Kevin Punter, still on the eve of becoming one of the greatest Americans overseas. But by thousands of beloved fans.
Coming back to BCL action after a year full of ups and downs in 2023-24, where they started on a rolling five-game run only to lose every game in the Round of 16, optimism has come back to Athens.
Hunting at a Quarter-Finals spot
When AEK last played in the BCL Quarter-Finals, it happened to be against an upcoming finalist. Hapoel Jerusalem wasn’t playing yet in the BKT EuroCup, and they were hunting for a title in 2023.
In the end, TJ Shorts II emerged as Bonn’s leader to lift the trophy, but to make their way to Malaga for the 2022-23 BCL Final Four the Israeli team had to prevail over the Greeks. After two balanced games with short advantages from one another, Game 3 concluded with a 40-point blowout.
A few days before AEK’s elimination, Hunter Hale played his last game with Borac Cacak, where he stayed for two seasons in the ABA League. He dropped 25 points to beat heavy favorite Buducnost.
Heading to the 2023-24 Basketball Champions League Regular Season, AEK wanted a complete revolution that brought it high-level caliber players like Jordan McRae, Justin Tillman, Ben McLemore, Mfiondu Kabengele, and more on board. With Joan Plaza from the bench.
It started as a dream, but it ended up in a nightmare, with the Queen losing her crown and financial stability over the months. In the Round of 16, guess who helped take them out?
Exactly: next to another exciting guard like Anthony Cowan Jr. – now at BC Wolves in the BKT EuroCup – with Promitheas, Hunter Hale took Greece by storm in Patras. He did it by opening that stage with 21 points to beat AEK, and he doubled with 29 in their last appearance in the Round of 16.
When he saw AEK could have found Promitheas once again in the Round of 16 this week, he made sure everything was planned accordingly. Because in the meantime he switched jerseys.
Opening the stage for the second consecutive season in the Basketball Champions League, he put up 21 points and made everybody going in the second half to secure a first-resounding 97-76 Greek derby victory against his former team. Hunting more while dancing is tough.
Uh-oh Hale is dancing with the fans, dangerous times if you’re playing @aekbcgr 🙃#BasketballCL pic.twitter.com/tejXIBbUtv
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) January 29, 2025
If you can’t beat him, make him joining you
In a sports landscape of “if you can’t beat them, join them”, AEK translated it this season the other way around, bringing in one of the guys who condemned them to early elimination last year.
This season they may have started slower than last year’s unbeaten run, but their 4-2 record in Group E of the Regular Season still gave them the pass to the following round without stopping by at the Play-Ins, from where Promitheas and Derthona joined them and Wurzburg in Group I.
Hunter Hale’s efficiency and power have grown as time passed, but he has always finished in double digits. He has averaged 19.4 points and 4.2 assists in his last five home games in the BCL and made at least three 3-pointers in each of his last five home games in the competition.
If you add that AEK have won their four home games this season in the BCL by an average margin of 17.8 points, what’s coming hosting Derthona could be the real challenge aiming to pair black with more gold.
The Basketball Champions League is at the peak of individual and collective talents, with multiple teams built to make resounding statements and look forward to Final Four action. AEK didn’t shout their ambitions at first this season, but they’re growing.
To dream of another appearance in early may six years after their latest appearance this far in the competition, the Queen needed a true king. Hunter Hale may be the one.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League