The Greek Basketball season is under way and Peristeri is already claiming to be the season’s success story, having come back to the top-tier of basketball in Greece with a vengeance.
Argyris Pedoulakis’ men have recorded four straight wins and are in the top position of the table, joining title-contenders Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. The northern suburb team had a dominant presence in the 1990s, with players such as Angelos Koronios, Michalis Pelekanos and the late Alphonso Ford representing them, before financial issues and the transfers of a lot of their key players began to take their toll on the club, forcing them to drop to lower divisions.
However, it now feels as if they never left, as Argyris Pedoulakis has returned to continue his work from where he left off a few years ago.
Peristeri’s comeback aside, the other two teams at the top of the Basket League have other concerns this week, as both Panathinaikos and Olympiacos have EuroLeague games ahead.
The ‘greens’ will travel to Montenegro to play with Buducnost, while the ‘red-and-whites’ will have their work cut out for them against Russian giants CSKA Moscow.
Panathinaikos’ coach Xavi Pasquale has reasons to be hopeful, as he was happy to see Matt Lojeski back in action in last weekend’s game against Rethymno.
Olympiacos’ David Blatt, on the other hand, will have to face the Russian powerhouse without the services of his small forward Janis Strelniekis, who suffered an injury in his team’s victory against Aris.
Meanwhile, in the two Greek-French battles for the Champions League that occurred early in the week, AEK claimed an easy 80-90 win at Dijon, while PAOK had a real fight on their hands against Nanterre, winning by half a basket 83-82 thanks to a free throw by Margaritis.
The Greek Basket League will resume the following week, with Peristeri hosting Ifestos, Olympiacos welcoming Lavrio and Panathinaikos having a difficult outing against Panionios.
