The Basket League season 2014/15, officially Basket League SKRATS for sponsorship reasons , was the 75th edition of the Greek basketball championship . The regular season began on October 12, 2014 and ended on May 10, 2015. In the following playoffs, Olympiakos won the Greek championship on June 14, 2015.
During the summer break on June 15, 2014, the re-promoted AEK Athens , who should play first class again after three years of abstinence, announced the outsourcing of the basketball department from the parent club. The abandonment of the amateur status was one of the main requirements for the receipt of eligibility to play for league one through the league association.
management
Changes worth mentioning during the summer break:
Nikos Galis , legend of Greek basketball, returned to Aris basketball club after 22 years of abstinence. As a consultant, he should from now on be jointly responsible for the areas of upswing and development in sporting matters. In honor of the former European champion, the club renamed the main hall of its venue to "Nick Galis Hall" last year.
Kostas Mexas was promoted to head of the KAOD's sports management assistant. The person responsible for the club since 2011 had replaced the emigrated coach Nenad Markovic.
Duško Ivanović took over as coach from Panathinaikos in early June and signed a two-year contract. The Montenegrin, who previously worked as a coach in Spain and France, among others, replaced Fragiskos Alvertis , who had taken over the team on an interim basis in the final phase of the previous season. After a defeat against Olympiakos on the 24th matchday, Ivanović's contract was terminated and released.
Soulis Markopoulos has been head of PAOK Saloniki since 2009. The coach had extended his now expiring contract for another five years. Markopoulos had already coached the PAOK team for the 1993/94 and 2005/06 seasons before taking it over for the third time at the beginning of the 2009/10 season.
Thanasis Skourtopoulos was introduced to the public on July 17, 2014 as the new trainer of Rethymno AEGEAN. The Athens-born Greek, who had also accompanied the Greek national basketball team to the World Cup in Spain as an assistant coach , coached the Cypriot first division club Keravnos Strovolou the previous season .
Player personal details
Changes worth mentioning during the summer break:
Michalis Kakiouzis , Giannis Psathas and Nikos Liakopoulos had extended their expiring contracts with AENK DIMOULAS. This enabled the club to keep some of its top performers from the previous season for the new season. However, at the start of the second half of the season, Kakiouzis had his contract terminated for personal reasons and a few days later signed a contract with APOEL Nicosia in Cyprus until the end of the season .
Stratos Perperoglou had turned down a contract extension with his previous employer Olympiakos and had switched to Anadolu Efes . He was lured by Anadolus new coach Dušan Ivković . Ivković had already trained various clubs in Greece in the past and was also able to speak Greek. Together they led the Anadolu Efes to the Turkish runner-up in that season.
Esteban Batista was Uruguay's first player in the NBA . Between 2005 and 2007 the South American center played with the Atlanta Hawks . He then continued his career in Europe. His way to Turkey led him through Spain, whose citizenship he is. On July 18, 2014, the country's sports newspapers announced his move to Greek champions Panathinaikos. With Pınar Karşıyaka he reached the semi-finals of the playoffs of the Turkish basketball championship last season, his team was eliminated against the eventual champions Fenerbahçe Ülker .
Oliver Lafayette moved from Valencia BC to runner-up Olympiakos. For the US-American, who plays for the Croatian national team, the club from Piraeus is the first stop in Greece. Before his engagement in Spain, the Guard played in Lithuania and in the North American D-League .
Nick Calathes and Aleksandar Vezenkov were at the top of the wish list of the series champions Panathinaikos for the new season. While Vezenkov declined the offer of the capital club and decided to continue playing for Aris Saloniki, Calathes expressed his willingness to change, but did not get the approval of the Memphis Grizzlies who continued to plan with him for the 2014/15 season and did not release him from his current contract . Thereupon the Athenians announced the engagement of AJ Slaughter . The French League All-Star last year's season came from the first division Élan Chalon . With Lefteris Bochoridis , Panathinaikos released one of the talents of Aris Saloniki a few weeks later. The young guard signed with the Athenians for the next five years.
Kostas Kakaroudis played for Energia Rovinari last season. After his commitment to the Romanian club ended in March, Kakaroudis joined the Kolossos from Rhodes for the remainder of the season. For the current season, the Power Forward signed with PAOK Saloniki. In addition, the club announced the contract extensions of Giorgos Dedas and Kostas Charalampidis. Both players extended their contracts for another two years.
Gaios Skordilis switched from Panionios to Apollon from Patras on July 17, 2014, following his teammate Marios Batis, the now former captain of Panionios, who himself signed for the Peloponnese just a few days earlier . Batis told the media that he would have liked to continue his involvement in Athens, but saw the necessary further development of the team by management not being implemented. The Greek pointguard complained that, among other things, his corresponding departures in the club were not adequately replaced. In addition, the Apollo secured the services of the American Muhammad El-Amin. The America East Conference player, who was awarded the Player of the Year Award for the 2009/10 season , came from the Hungarian first division club BC Körmend, with an average of 18.4 points.
Main round
management
Changes in management for the current season:
Angelos Koronios joined the AEK Athens coaching team on November 12, 2014. The 45-year-old announced on the club's own website that his renewed commitment to the capital city club was a matter close to his heart and that he is looking forward to working with head coach Dragan Šakota, whom he himself considers to be one of the most successful coaches in Europe. Koronios has already worked as an assistant trainer at the AEK in the past.
Player personal details
Notable changes during the main round:
Pops Mensah-Bonsu was already facing a commitment to Euroleague participant Olympiakos before the season. The only thing left to do was the medical check-up before the contract was ready for signature. However, the English could not pass this and the club from Piraeus refrained from the obligation of the center. At the end of November, Mensah-Bonsu announced its commitment to Hapoel Jerusalem . After the AEK Athens looked for a new center in December 2014, the now 31-year-old met with the Athens club management and, after reaching an agreement with the board and passed a medical check, asked for his approval from the Israeli first division club. On December 27, the Briton signed a contract with the AEK until the end of the season. There he quickly took on responsibility, earned several double doubles and was also voted MVP of the match day three times. At the beginning of April 2015, the Briton announced how well he felt at the AEK and wanted to play for the club in the future before he tested positive for amphetamines a few days later . At a specially convened press conference, Mensah-Bonsu assured him that the drug, which was prescribed for him in the United States in October 2014 when he was in the Denver Nuggets training camp , was not used to improve performance, but only to improve concentration, a drug that Not classified as doping in the States. A month later, Mensah-Bonsu was banned from all competitions for two years and he had to leave the AEK.
Michalis Kamperidis, one of the talents of the AEK, extended his contract for another three years until the end of the 2018 season. In order to gain more match practice he was loaned to the Spanish second division club CB Peñas Huesca until the end of this season .
In brackets the stakes for the season in the Basket League. In the main round, 26 games were played. In the playoffs, another nine followed for Olympiakos.
Olympiacos Piraeus
AEK Athens
Panathinaikos Athens
Kolossos H Hotels
PAOK Saloniki
Rethymno AEGEAN
