Blessing in disguise: Alec Peters reflects on his unexpected move to Olympiacos / News - Basketnews.com

Alec Peters talks to BasketNews about the surprise decision that took him from Baskonia to Olympiacos, his co-existence with Sasha Vezenkov on the court, life in Athens and Vitoria, as well as the only reason that could make him return to the States.

Credit: Olympiacos BC Credit Olympiacos BC

Alec Peters has been residing in Greece for the past two months. The weather in the Attica region where he lives was excellent up until early October, and that's why he took the time to do a little bit of sightseeing.

Alec Peters

MIN:19.29PTS:7 (57.14%)REB:2.33As:0.33ST:0.33BL:0.33TO:0.67GM:3ProfileEuroLeague2022/2023

"My wife and I have done a lot of walking around. We've been to the city of Athens, Plaka, the Acropolis," Peters, 27, tells BasketNews.

But where the couple enjoyed their visit the most was at the Acropolis Museum, which Peters calls "super cool, amazing" with sheer enthusiasm.

"The next time we go, we'll definitely have a guide because we need someone to explain some things to us. We did it by ourselves, and we were a little bit lost," he regrets.

Peters says he'll do more sightseeing when family and friends visit, maybe for Thanksgiving in November. The plan is for them to pay him a visit once or twice throughout the year, which is already underway.

Peters is currently playing for Olympiacos Piraeus, one of the few -if not the only- unbeaten teams in all competitions, taking pre-season games into account.

Credit Olympiacos BC

The Illinois-born athlete first came to Europe for CSKA Moscow in 2018. He got to spend one season in Russia, another one in Turkey with Anadolu Efes, and two more with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Watching Olympiacos from the outside all those years helped him form a vague idea of what's it all about.

"They have always been a team that most players would choose to stay with if they could," Peters holds. "You're in Athens, you're in Piraeus, in some of the best living situations you can have."

The Valparaiso graduate notes that the Greek club "has come a long way progress-wise from the original stereotypes to now being one of the best to play for."

Stereotypes like what? To prevent any misunderstandings, Peters clarifies that sometimes, teams go through different periods when they're not having as much success on the court as they used to.

Alec Peters

Team:Olympiacos PiraeusPosition:PF, SFAge:27Height:206 cmWeight:107 kgBirth place:Illinois, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

"Olympiacos are used to winning championships. But when I started playing in Europe, they had these few years when they didn't make the playoffs, or they weren't in the running. I think it wasn't supposed to be like that. Now, it's back to where everyone knows Olympiacos to be."

The whole rebuilding process that kicked off with coach Giorgos Bartzokas returning to his childhood team in March 2020 has already started to pay dividends.

Following three consecutive seasons without making the playoffs, the Reds had an excellent 2021-22 campaign that was laureled by both domestic titles (the Greek championship and the Cup) and a EuroLeague Final Four comeback which left a bittersweet aftertaste.

Peters points out that this could be an even better season. Taking into account the names of those who left and those who came, who wouldn't be willing to grant him the point?

Olympiacos lost (for different reasons) Tyler Dorsey, Hassan Martin, Livio Jean-Charles, Quincy Acy, and club legend Giorgos Printezis, replacing them with Isaiah Canaan, Joel Bolomboy, Tarik Black, and, yes, Alec Peters.

"You're taking a core of people who were so close to the EuroLeague title last season, and you add to the team some great veterans; guys that have the experience, the talent, and the depth," the American forward argues.

"We had a very good pre-season of coming together chemistry-wise. I'm expecting a consistent year from everybody."

What Peters definitely didn't see coming was the way things panned out for him in the summer. Fresh off his second-season finish with Baskonia, he was sure that the Basque entity would almost automatically opt into the final year of his 2+1 contract.

"I went on vacation very relaxed, thinking that I was going to stay in Vitoria for another season," the player described the situation last July.

"This was supposed to be an easy, normal, comfortable summer," Peters goes on to say. Besides, he and his wife loved their two years there.

"People sometimes think of it as very dead and slow. But we didn't approach it that way. You make it home; it's a very comfortable and great place to do whatever you want to. There's great food and wine around the area; there are also great sightseeing places, like San Sebastian and Bilbao. Spain is unbelievable to live in."

Credit ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix

Peters says they both picked up the language after studying Spanish a little bit at school. "Living there and having to speak on an everyday basis, it became a lot easier for us to communicate."

Life in Vitoria also became easy for the Peters family.

"That's why if I'd played there for a few more years, I wouldn't have minded at all."

But that wasn't the case. In mid-July, Baskonia informed Peters of their intentions to skip the third year of their deal, a development that left him devastated.

"That's very hard to me to talk about because I put my heart in those two years there. It was obviously a place that I saw myself helping take from where it was to be competitive and maybe a Final Four contender again. I really wanted to be a part of that, being a captain on the team and an important player in that role."

But the club had different plans. Peters stresses that it's also very tough to talk about it with his former teammates because he was fully expecting to be back in Vitoria this year.

"I was supposed to be there now," he poignantly contemplates.

The local press reported that the basic reason why Baskonia let their starting power forward go was that his salary wasn't sustainable for the club anymore. In other words, the 2020 Spanish champs and EuroLeague shareholders figured out they couldn't afford to pay a sum close to $900.000.

"I guess you could say it was a financial decision," the player concedes. "But it still hurts to know you weren't worth being paid whatever your worth is. When such a big change happens, it stings a little bit."

Peters says it was understood that he was an important player on Baskonia's roster, and when things turned around dramatically, he had to make the change and go with it. Somewhat miraculously, it all ended up being for the better.

"When this opportunity from Olympiacos came, it seemed almost perfect. I ended up in a better situation, in a place that believes in me being a core piece of what we're doing here," Peters maintains. "Now that I'm here, I can't imagine not being here."

Last season, Peters was hampered by a knee injury that kept him off the court for four months. However, he's now feeling well after missing considerable time. The 2019 EuroLeague champion recalls that he was able to play little less than half a season.

"That was a difficult time," he admits, adding that he wishes things could have been handled a little bit differently from his standpoint.

"From the time the injury happened to finally having surgery. I wish everything would have been done quicker so that I would have time to play throughout the season."

The fact that he got to spend almost 30 minutes on the court after he came back helped Peters enter the free-agent market with a different tag. He had fully recovered, and the possibility of sustaining the same injury was minimal.

"There were no question marks as to how healthy I could be. But now I'm feeling well anyway."

Peters is also feeling well with what he can do on the floor. Since he introduced himself to European basketball in 2018, he's definitely become a different player.

"I'm more experienced, and at the same time, I'm more adjustable," he explains.

"I think I'm one of the more different players you can find in Europe. I do have a great shooting ability, but I'm also able to play the perimeter and out of the post. I'm able to do a lot of things, more than when I came to Europe."

At the beginning of his overseas career, Peters was mainly assigned tasks fit for a spot-up shooter. That was all his coaches asked him to do. It's no coincidence that in an interview he did three years ago, he defined himself as merely "a shooter."

"I space the floor and knock down shots when they come to me. I always try to make the right play, I'm not going to turn the ball over, and I'm going to be as solid as I can on defense and rebounding," Peters said.

In other words, not being a liability for his teams took precedence over enriching his skillset and (offensive) arsenal. At the time, he was on a stacked Anadolu Efes team, where his role could be easily described as one-dimensional.

"I had such great players around me - and that's what I needed to do at the time," he reflects. "I think I've progressed and developed into a player that you can play through and run sets for, but also someone who's being very reliable on the defensive end as well."

Peters certainly went through different coaches that had very little in common. From Dimitris Itoudis to Ergin Ataman and from Dusko Ivanovic to Neven Spahija, the tacticians that preceded his current coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, have provided Peters with different ideas about his role.

Peters singles Itoudis and Bartzokas out "because their approach to practice is pretty similar. They're very efficient, planned out, detailed, they teach very well and explain what they want [to be] done."

However, as Peters once again found out last summer, things can't always go his way. "I've been blessed to play for some good coaches, and for some, I had differences with. Every player has their favorites and their not favorites. That's life, that's basketball. You're not always going to love everyone," he stoically observes.

Under Ataman in the 2019-20 season, Peters' average playing time clocked in at just over 13 minutes. He also recorded career lows in several statistical categories, like points and rebounds.

The team was winning to the point of being considered the frontrunner to go all the way, but Peters wasn't enjoying the ride.

"Of course, it didn't work out when I was at Efes. It was a weird year overall. The season was cut short due to COVID," he remembers. "But here we are now."

Peters thinks he was never really cut out to serve his teams as merely a shooter.

"I've had more abilities all along. I've had a good base, and as I progressed in Europe and played for different teams - Baskonia helped as well - I had a larger role. Now, I have that skillset for when it's needed. Now, I'm with a great team, and I can see how the game's going and what part is needed the most," he emphasizes.

Credit Olympiacos BC

In an interview with Olympiacos' website, Peters said he had a discussion with Giorgos Bartzokas about his role with the team. When the two spoke, there was one element that particularly incited the player to join the team.

"What excited me is what he told me about my progression as a player. Everybody sees me as a 4-man who stretches the floor, but I've always wanted to play more minutes as a '3' and be more of a '3'/'4'; not just stay, shoot, screen, post up a little bit.

I consider myself a pretty fast and mobile guy who can play the '3' as well. I think coach Bartzokas agrees, and you'll definitely see at some point me and Sasha (Vezenkov) play together. I loved the idea of not only backing him up but also of playing on the court the same time as him."

Bartzokas' idea has already materialized, although, at first sight, his pairing with Sasha Vezenkov might look like putting two identical players together.

But what is the Greek coach trying to achieve? Are they going to complement each other on the court, or is it about enhancing each other's advantages?

Credit Euroleague Basketball

"We can do a little bit of both," Peters replies. "In practice, it's great to have somebody who can challenge you and make things easy for you. Sasha and I have had moments where we've played together.

You see where our differences are. I can play a little bit more perimeter-oriented, I can post up and create a little bit. Sasha is very active rebounding-wise. We're both able to play off each other in a way that's going to surprise some people.

Everybody thought that it was going to be me or him and that we'd split time. But it won't be that way at all. We'll complement each other on the court."

Giorgos Bartzokas has a reputation for having an affinity for players who can shoot the ball from a distance. His Lokomotiv Kuban team, which reached the EuroLeague Final Four in 2016, was rolling and shooting on all five cylinders.

There was hardly a single player who couldn't drain a 3-pointer. Moustapha Fall and Tarik Black can't shoot the three at Olympiacos, but the Reds have enough firepower to make it rain any day.

"We have so many great shooters on our team in general," Peters notes. "It's me, Sasha, Isaiah Canaan, Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Papanikolaou. We're able to spread the court and allow guys like Shaq (McKissic) and Thomas (Walkup) to have the operation in the paint. For our big guys, like Mous (Moustapha Fall), Joel (Bolomboy), and Tarik (Black), to have more space. We have a great balance on our team."

Last season, Olympiacos took many by surprise when they made the Final Four. But Alec Peters wasn't one of them.

"I mean, they were probably, along with Barcelona, one of the most consistent teams in the regular season. Once you put yourself in a good match-up in the playoffs, everything is possible," he explains.

The 27-year-old forward says he knew for sure that the Greek side would topple AS Monaco in the playoff series.

"You can see that the teams that made the Final Four topped the statistical categories. They were great at 3-point defense and in the paint. They were Final Four-ready."

After such a successful and historical campaign, the squad that has the responsibility to carry the torch during the 2022-23 season has to meet fans' expectations by equaling or even surpassing what its predecessor had accomplished.

Peters argues that the current team should only be judged on the basis of living up to its true potential.

"We shouldn't approach it as trying to top last season. We should just focus on having the best season that this team can have."

In the Greek league, Peters underlines, Olympiacos won't be content with anything less than the title. In the EuroLeague, everyone has Final Four aspirations, especially considering how the season has started.

According to Peters, the tough part for Olympiacos will be to get there. Once that's done, experience (one of the elements the Greeks lacked in the past Final Four) will take care of the rest.

"We have champions on our team, myself included, that have been there and know what it takes to win a championship. We hope that carries us through to a different result than they had in the past season."

Although still 27, Peters has gathered experience from playing on both sides of the ocean. In the 2017 NBA draft, he was selected with the 54th pick by the Phoenix Suns, with which he signed a two-way deal.

Throughout this time, Peters would split his playing time between Northern Arizona and Phoenix, mostly playing with the Suns' affiliate team.

He bid farewell to his rookie season with a career-high 36 points (including a franchise record-high 8 3-pointers for rookies) in a win against the Dallas Mavericks. His overall contribution and participation were reduced to 20 games and 4.1 points on average.

A couple of years ago, Peters declared his intentions by saying he wouldn't like to end his career before having another shot at the NBA.

But time flies, and now there's hardly anything that could move him away from Europe. As he points out, his perspective can easily change and mostly depends on location.

"I flip-flop on that a lot," he admits. "When you're at home in the summer, you realize what it's like to be around your family most of the time."

Peters believes the hardest part about playing in Europe isn't living here, it's not everyday life and the eight-hour difference from home.

"It's knowing that my mom, my dad, and my brother, who've watched me play all the time, will only watch me in a couple of games if they come to visit. I always have to send them a link to watch.

That's the only thing that keeps me thinking, 'Ok, maybe one day I'll take another chance if it matches up correctly.' But I don't think I would leave the career I've built here in Europe - and, hopefully, at Olympiacos- lest there was the most perfect situation that I could find."

As many players are used to being in touch with NBA teams, Peters prefers to downplay any discussions he's had so far.

"You'd be surprised at how many players they have talks every summer with. At the end of the day, it's just talks. The calendar is weird, and when an opportunity like that comes along, you can't pass [it] up."

In the same vein, if nothing major comes his way, he's fine with the idea of growing roots in Europe and in his new team.

"I'd love to stay here if possible. I love the feeling here. I love playing here in Piraeus, for Olympiacos," he repeats as a reminder of how our discussion has gone full circle.

"My wife loves it here. Her favorite food is Greek/Mediterranean. That matters the most when she's happy," Peters utters with a broad smile before waving goodbye.

Provided that history won't repeat itself, the Peters family will be able to enjoy Athens, Piraeus, and their suburbs to their heart's content.

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