VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - There seems to be a little yin and yang at work at Aris, the Greek club that has won 10 domestic titles and claimed numerous other trophies in its famous history.

Just several days ago, Aris, coached by Greek Panagiotis Giannakis, were basking in the glow of a fourth win in eight Basketball Champions League games, an 80-72 triumph at Stelmet Zielona Gora. That result kept the club firmly in the hunt for a spot in the play-offs.

Lefteris Bochoridis, who'd returned to his hometown club on December 3 for the remainder of the 2017-18 campaign from Panathinaikos, had a 22-point, 9-dime and 3-steal performance that made everyone sit up and take notice.

Bochoridis was named to the Gameday 8 Team of the Week on Thursday and then Friday discovered he was the MVP of the Week! He was happy, and also expressing the hope that a Greek national team call-up might be his come February.

The 23-year-old had not played in the November FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers.

"I played for all the youth national teams," he told me. "In 2013, when I was only 19, I was in the (preliminary) squad under (former coach Andrea) Trinchieri and played in a friendly. I want to come back.

"Now that I have more playing time at Aris, I can show everyone that I can help the national team. It's something I really want."

Sadly for Aris, the club followed up the win in Poland with a 94-69 defeat at Kymis in the Greek league.

Big defeats create the conditions for working harder and rallying, not breaking. There we must all work, spiritually and physically.GiannakisGiannakis

So what's going on with a team that can play well one night and then crash and burn the next?

We've seen the same sort of thing happen recently with the club of another Greek coach, Fotis Katsikaris. Now holding the reins of Iberostar Tenerife in Spain´s top flight, Katsikaris' team laid the wood to a good Neptunas Klaipeda team and then helped give the Basketball Champions League some bragging rights with a 91-90 victory at EuroLeague outfit Barcelona in the Liga Endesa.

Iberostar Tenerife, however, returned home for another Basketball Champions League game on Wednesday and were big favorites going up against Ventspils, a side that it had lost to on Gameday 1. The Latvian team won, 71-65. Iberostar Tenerife rebounded, however, with an 81-77 win over another EuroLeague team, Unicaja Malaga, on Saturday.

So what about Aris and Giannakis? The good news for the Greek team is that Giannakis has proven he can win both as a player (he was the point guard on Greece´s 1987 European Championship-winning team), and a coach. 

"I want to create a team that is tough and has faith and a clear mind to play until the last second, regardless of the score," Giannakis said after the loss to Kymis.

Giannakis was all smiles after leading Aris past Sidigas Avellino on November 14.

The veteran tactician wants his Aris teams to be like the Greece national teams he used to coach. In his second stint with Greece, from 2004 to 2008, Giannakis' sides might have be down but they were never out.

Giannakis wants Aris to be like his Greece team that trailed Russia, 33-26, at half-time of their FIBA EuroBasket 2005 Quarter-Final in Belgrade yet won, 66-61, and the very next game hit back from a deficit of several points in the last minute to shock France, 67-65, before prevailing against Germany in the Final.

At the World Cup in 2006 in Hamamatsu, Japan, Greece trailed Australia in the fourth quarter but won with a Nikos Zisis 3-pointer at the end, 72-69, and also hit back from a 5-point half-time deficit to Turkey and won that game, 76-69.

Greece trailed the USA early in their Semi-Final in Saitama but hit back for a 101-95 victory. Giannakis says he cannot wave a magic wand at Aris but he can help it get better.

Coach Giannakis' most famous win was Greece's 101-95 triumph over the USA.

"I have great mood and excitement to really help the team, because I believe so much in the club," he said. "But I think we need a team effort and not just my own presence."

Aris are not going to beat Panathinaikos or Olympiacos to the championship this season, yet this proud club should not be floundering around in the last several spots in the league standings. Maybe it can get on a roll and do something big in the Basketball Champions League. 

Giannakis said something after the loss to Kymis that falls into the "If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger" category.

"Big defeats create the conditions for working harder and rallying, not breaking," he said. "There, we must all work, spiritually and physically." (Listening Giannakis speak is like hearing the words of a ancient Greek philosopher.)

Giannakis has spoken. Let's see how the Aris players respond.

Jeff Taylor
FIBA

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