THE Vasilis Spanoulis completed his first season as head coach. The pigeonbwin It was the team that gave him his first chance and at the end of the 2022/23 season he found it in 3rd place in the Basket League after defeating PAOK in the minor finals.

It was June 30th when Vassilis Spanoulis was introduced by the “Princes” and in his first statements said that the His first goal for his team was to fill the field with attractive basketball.

It’s true that the bwin pigeon has played really good basketball at times. He had some ups and downs to be expected as he had practically built the roster from the ground up and many adjustments needed to be made. However, at the end of the season, the “Princes” finished 3rd in the Basket League and were finalists in the Final Eight of the OPAP Hellenic Cup (where they were defeated by Olympiacos), while the team was eliminated in the Basketball Champions League play-in of competition (practically in the phase of 24 teams) from Dijon.

Peristeri bwin ended the season with an overall record of 27-17, which translates to a win rate of 61%. He had a 21-11 record in the Basket League (14-8 in the regular season and 7-3 in the playoffs, with all losses coming in the semifinals against Panathinaikos, who pushed him to the limit before dropping 3rd place :2 eliminated). , 4-5 in the BCL (3-3 in the regular season and 1-2 from Dijon) and 2-1 in the Greek OPAP Cup Final Eight.

But what is Vassilis Spanoulis’ record in his rookie season? What has his team shown on the floor and how has his first year been shaped?

The squad he put together and the coaching staff

Vassilis Spanoulis had a plan when he started negotiations with Peristeri bwin. He’d talked about gamblers on the first date, asked for guarantees, and shown that he had some things in mind. The fact that the West District team was activated early in the transfer window showed that.

Vassilis Spanoulis built a team with guards who had the ability to create their own shot (Francisco, Denmon), forwards with size (Kaselakis, Radanov, Davis – who was replaced by Persedis – and Agravanis who was then replaced by Hougaz ), including a center with the ability to post (Bilan), a guard with the ability to press the ball (Moraitis, Poulianitis, Coleman), and a backup center with elements other than Bilan (Juston initially as a winger, whom he also briefly replaced Ian Hammer).

Vassilis Spanoulis’ staff was definitely the greatest in the Basket League. Both the team manager (Giorgos Tsiaras) and his four direct assistants (Savvas Kamberidis, Kostas Charalambidis, Panagiotis Vassilopoulos, Dusan Vukcevics) were top-flight players with achievements from both Basket League and European competitions, with most of them having EuroLeague experience.

The message is clear: the coach from Larisa wanted to have people at his side who performed at the highest level. Voices he would respect and trust because he knew they had been through stressful situations just like him.

The debut and match stations

It is October 3, 2022 and Peristeri bwin hosts Bnei Herzeliya for the first day of the Basketball Champions League. It is the official debut of Vassilis Spanoulis. The bwin pigeon looks like… a torrent. The “Princes” were stormy, they easily prevailed with 86-70 of the Israelisa dream debut for the former international.

Two weeks later, on October 18, the bwin pigeon bows down mighty – and last year’s champions – Tenerife. It’s Vassilis Spanoulis’ biggest win, until next. Between these two games in Europe there were also two games in the Basket League. The victory over PAOK in the premiere and – most importantly – the first clash with Olympiakos in SEF, where in the deification of the worldseen the “Red-Whites” crushed Peristeri bwin 101-79.

The season continued with several ups and downs. The two regular-season losses to AEK seemed to cost Peristeri victory in the battle for third place. It turned out that ultimately they would have no impact on the team’s run. In the twilight of 2023, the entire “Kill Bill” in OAKA bared its teeth against Panathinaikos, I knew the loss ended up being 72-71. Two weeks later, the bwin Peristeri arrives at … Amen Olympiakos before Thomas Walkup redeemed the “red-whites” at the end.

It’s clear that the bwin pigeon is a tough nut to crack. Of course it was also possible, in the final of the Final Eight against Olympiakos he had no luck, in the knowledge of the 85:57 defeat of the “red and white”. In Europe the dream had already been extinguished by Dijon, with Peristeriotes fighting to qualify for the Top-16 until Game 3. Peristeri in the Basket League bwin led Panathinaikos to five games in the semifinals before being eliminated in game five at OAKA and ended up taking third place.

Coach Spanoulis’ defensive philosophy

Vassilis Spanoulis had shown in the Peristeri Bwin friendlies that he was tough on his players. Dimitris Moraitis understood this well in a friendly with Red Star, when he finally found out about a failure in defense from the Larisa technician, which he repeated a few months later in a game against Dijon. But what was the philosophy of Vassilis Spanoulis?

At Peristeri bwin it all started in defence. Coach Spanoulis used to start with large formations, but often played with three guards. He usually had a 9 man rotation so he could maintain the desired level of energy at both ends of the floor.

There was pressure on the opposing playmaker across the entire pitch. On any “dead” ball (after shots or timeouts), apply a full field press with traps with a 2-2-1 defense (two guards up front, two forwards in the middle ready for traps, and the middle in near the basket). and often it was just a delay pressure.

In pick and roll, the Princes usually played a hedge out (the big man went to the ball handler before returning to the screener, with an opposing player covering him), in part due to Bilan’s slow feet, which was often a target for defense. ) or flat (the big one was at the level of the screen). However, it helped that Francisco is bad at switching between the screen and his opponent, while Moraitis and Poulianitis were instructed to “break” the screens by laying their bodies down.

For post-ups by opponents, Peristeri mostly played straight, i.e. without help (especially in positions 4-5) and there was an option without middle (so that the opponent who posts does not turn to the middle, i.e. inwards). the end line) and sends help there from the player who was in the opposite corner. This usually happened when an opposing regional player fielded a bwin Dove Guard.

The Princes were tough on defense. They put their hands everywhere, they pushed, they took advantage of their fouls. They wanted that pressure so they could then run out into the open and strike first with Francisco and Denmon, with Moraitis also setting the pace.

Coach Spanoulis philosophy in attack

The presence of two guards with the ability to execute (Francisco and Denmon) and a big old cut with the ability to post but also pass when playing doubles (Bilan) showed Vassilis Spanoulis thoughts early on. By adding a combo forward with the ability to shoot from a distance (Kaselakis) on their side, they wanted to provide the appropriate distances.

At Peristeri bwin it was clear that it all started with Francisco leaving almost half of the team’s pick and rolls free to create or execute. Denmon created Pick and Roll primarily for performing, because that’s in his nature. Plan B clearly relied on Bilan’s talent in post-up situations, with the experienced center delivering points either directly (scoring) or indirectly (passing). Alternatively, there was always the possibility that Kaselakis would post

Vassilis Spanoulis adjusted his shots when he swapped Juston (a classic pick and roll big player) for Hammer. The American shields well, but the difference between him and Juston is that he’s an excellent passer (either on a handoff, i.e. a hand-to-hand pass, or on a short roll towards the basket – stop at 5 meters – before deciding whether to shoot or pass), which Peristeri bwin took advantage of.

Larissa’s team also scored several points from cuts in the basket as they had enough movement. At the same time, for Denmon’s welfare, coach Spanoulis made sure there were some off-screen plays (where a player came off a screen), either for the American freshman or to set up a pick and roll.

Peristeri bwin theoretically played fairly simple basketball. This is what it looked like at first glance. But in reality he had a lot of moves that required a lot of concentration from his players.

A successful season

Looking at the numbers and history of Peristeriou bwin alone, Vassilis Spanoulis’ first season can be described as a success. His team won 3rd place in the Basket League, reached the Final Eight of the Greek OPAP Cup and reached the Round of 16 in the Basketball Champions League.

Many can remain true to the fact that the ‘Princes’ had the third highest budget in the Basket League – or the highest after Olympiakos and Panathinaikos – that success was expected. But money can only get you so far. Then you must do something too.

Vassilis Spanoulis’ rookie season had many good moments. He also had difficult times. Some bad losses. Most importantly, however, for the Larissa Guardian, he has shown in a safe environment that he already has a philosophy built in his head that he has largely been able to implement while remaining true to his principles. And third place in the Basket League is certainly a good start for a rookie coach.