Samodurov: The fight between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos and coach Spanoulis

At 17, he is one of the most important talents in European basketball. With a height of 209 cm and a huge opening of his hands, Alexandros Samodurov is rightly considered the next great player in Greek basketball, as the spectators of the Rising Stars final in Patras on Sunday (February 27) saw him beat the competition with 30 points and 13 rebounds in the 40 minutes he held down against Olympiakos.

Originally from Georgia, Samodurov was born in Thessaloniki and grew up in the western districts. He’s a hard worker, he’s a humble kid and very focused on his goal, he makes one-on-one fights with Giorgos Kyriazis, a man of known worth who has also worked with Sasa Vezenkov – Dino Mitoglou, and breaks up everyone he’s in the championship faces third nationality. It is not easy for a child to compete in the national championships, since basketball is very dynamic and often tough, but Samodurov not only stands, but also manages to dominate every Sunday.

The young big man destined for the power forward position has already spoken with Olympiakos and Panathinaikos. Piraeus met him via sporting director Christos Bafe in Stavroupoli, a day before the game with Aris in Alexandreio, the Greens met him in the previous Rising Stars, with Albertis, Diamantidis, Pappas on the field. Samodurov has one more season in youth, it is considered certain that he will say goodbye to DEKA at the end of the current season, but he has not yet made his decision about the next step on the way to establishment.

The young athlete’s dream, of course, is the NBA and his goal is to enter the 2024 draft. That means that if his improvement continues to be rapid, the team that pushes him to his potential will lose him in two, much in three years but will pocket a significant amount of the buyout that will be included in his contract will. At the moment he will continue to play with the men’s team of DEKA in the third national team and try to win the national championship at youth level.

The next big event we will see him at will be the Adidas Next Generation Tournament, which will take place in Patras at the Prometheus premises from March 25th to 27th. There, Samodurov will play in next-generation Patras, led by Vassilis Spanoulis, who will form an eight-player squad from Greek teams other than Olympiacos and Prometheus, as Piraeus and Achaia join CSKA Moscow, Barcelona, ​​​​Maccabi Tel Aviv, Stellachura and Helsinki.

As a reminder, in the three games at Rising Stars in Patras, Samodurov had 25 points and 12 rebounds against PAOK. 32 points and 12 rebounds against Panathinaikos, 30 points and 13 rebounds against Olympiakos with 21/33 two points, 9/23 three points and 18/24 shots.