From dream to nightmare: AEK in a season to remember for all the wrong reasons / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Media/AEK BC Credit FIBA Media/AEK BC

When AEK Athens entered their new gym in the region of Ano Liosia, situated roughly 17 kilometers from central Athens, a long-lasting dream for the historic Greek club seemed to finally come true.

Free throws this season

71%14,8Points made:14,8Accuracy:71,2%Place in standings:10Record max:25Record min:8Most made FTs:Nikos PappasTeamBCLStatisticsSchedule

Everyone welcomed the 8.200 seat arena with a sigh of relief. A team that won both the FIBA Champions League and the Greek Cup in 2018 moved to a place they can call home.

Being hosted at OAKA from 2014 through 2021, AEK had been paying a rather pricey rent for the use of an installation which at best was filled up to a modest 15-20% for most of their seven-year-long stay.

In contrast to OAKA, where AEK often had to split game dates with Panathinaikos, the former wrestling arena in Ano Liosia will be hosting only the yellow-black team for the next 20 years.

To make a long story short, AEK managed to resolve a chronic problem that most professional teams in Greece have long been struggling with.

However, the club was carrying a heavy financial burden which became almost unbearable as time went by.

In September 2020, AEK, FIBA, and the Greek state organized a press conference in Athens, announcing that the BCL Final 8 would be held in the Greek capital between September 30 and October 4.

Club owner Makis Angelopoulos saw that the team, which was then coached by Ilias Papatheodorou, had more than a decent chance to reclaim the crown.

The 2019-20 team featured players like Nikos Zisis, Jonas Maciulis, Keith Langford, and Marcus Slaughter, with Yannick Moreira and Matt Lojeski, added to the 2020-21 version. Tyrese Rice was the icing on the cake, rendering AEK the ultimate favorite for the trophy. Moreover, the COVID pandemic in Greece had retreated to such an extent that the idea of re-opening the arenas to fans didn't seem far-fetched.

Alas, in late August, the virus stroke back, cases went from double to quadruple digits, and the plan of having any fans at OAKA was abandoned almost immediately. In the Final 8, AEK cruised past Nymburk and Zaragoza to reach their second final in three seasons but were no match for San Pablo Burgos in the final.

Angelopoulos, who had put all his hopes into AEK's win, received 630.000 euros from the Greek state and another 500.000 from FIBA to cover almost 70% of the tournament's total cost. In short, AEK coming in second meant that the 400.000 euros allocated to the BCL runners-up would hardly be enough even to cover the expenses of hosting the Final 8.

The real problem was the 2020-21 season budget, which also didn't involve any fans in the stands. AEK proceeded with a roster of high-quality and experienced players, which failed to deliver on all fronts and in every respect. What's more, the balance between income and expenses was not sustainable anymore. For instance, even though Tyrese Rice quit basketball right after the BCL final game, the Greek side could not pay off the American guard for his two-month service.

As the season came to an end, several players started expressing frustration and discontent with late payments.

Ιn March 2021, forward Nikos Rogkavopoulos refused to participate in a team practice ahead of AEK's most crucial BCL game against Turk Telekom, which largely decided the team that would advance to the next round. He never played with the team again.

Two months later, three players (Yannick Moreira, Daryl Macon, Moses Kingsley) also refused to join team practices ahead of the 3rd place series of the Greek League.

Angelopoulos attributed the hardships to "some unfinished financial business because of the consequences of the pandemic", "issues arising from financing the Final 8 of the BCL", and also "the financing of the new stadium."So, the summer of 2021 called for drastic changes. First of all, the budget had to be reduced to half of what it had been from 2017 through 2020. One major setback was FIBA bans preventing AEK from signing any player whose clearance letter had not stayed in Greece. While during the 2020-21 campaign, FIBA bans on AEK never went beyond six, the number has skyrocketed over the last months, starting from last June. On January 13, the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal imposed three more bans on the Greek club, increasing the tally to 17. This number constitutes a new world record, with the previous one also belonging to AEK (15, on August 2021).

The only team that had failed to keep up the installments to such an extent had been Turkish side Besiktas, with 14 bans in place.

In June 2019, Angelopoulos tried to downplay those sanctions' importance, arguing that some agents ask that their clients' contracts be paid in full long after the deal had been mutually terminated.

"We can't give in to each and every opportunist who wants to profit at the expense of our team. So, we give them a hard time, and that's how we have been able to settle all the cases," AEK's head said. Since the pandemic broke out, the 8-time Greek champs have seen almost a dozen of former players (Milan Milosevic, Edin Atic, Trevor Mbakwe, Malik Hairston, Vassilis Kavvadas, Delroy James, Vassilis Xanthopoulos, Stefan Jankovic, Dusan Sakota, Vince Hunter, Charis Giannopoulos) file a claim against them. Former coaches Sotiris Manolopoulos (2017-18) and Luca Banchi (2018-19) are also on the long list.

Claimants have taken legal action -among other reasons- for outstanding salaries, agent fees, tax certificates, bonuses, and interest. In most cases, the respondent (AEK) did not participate in the proceedings.This condition does not leave much room for flashy signings. Last summer, AEK hired former Hapoel Holon head coach Stefanos Dedas who had to put together a team taking certain restrictions into account.

Credit AEK BC

"We wanted to see a different brand of basketball, something more up-to-date with what's going on in the sport globally right now. Basketball is moving towards speed and shooting, which are elements of our coach's game," GM Giorgos Chinas told Greek outlet Dikefalosin mid-October 2021. "Dedas is a coach who has made gradual steps, not leaps, has worked successfully on many teams. I think he's an overachiever, as he has accomplished more things than the budgets he was given would prepare us for.

We cut down our budget but also wanted the team to remain competitive - that's why we hired a man who could respond," the team's former team manager (2011-2020) concluded. Dedas prefers small-ball, where all five players can be a perimeter threat. On paper, only two players on the roster can't shoot the ball from a distance at all: centers Dimitris Mavroidis and Giorgos Bogris. In the Greek League, Mavroidis's average playing time clocks in at roughly eight minutes, and this will probably be his last season on the court.

The situation with Bogris is more complicated. The former Olympiacos Piraeus big man has played only two domestic games, with his last appearance dating back to October.

One month ago, Bogris cleared up his status. "I am on paid leave. I got off the rotation, but these things happen in professional sport," the 32-year-old veteran said on Greek network Cosmote TV.

"I think our chemistry with Stefanos Dedas didn't mesh. I'm not a 3-point shooter, and he wants all five players on the court to shoot the ball," he commented before pointing out: "Of course, the 3-point shot was never in my skillset."

Bogris was certainly miscast in his role, but AEK can't afford the luxury of bearing the contract of an ostracised athlete who has been reduced to working out individually, cut off from the rest of the team. As a result, Dedas' small rotation became more limited. In most games, even with a full roster at his disposal, the Greek tactician uses up to nine players. During the season, forwards Manny Harris and Juan Pablo Vaulet left the team, while center Ian Hummer was signed before the FIBA ban storm began. The real storm, however, had absolutely nothing to do with basketball. It had to do with life itself. The tragic loss of Stevan Jelovac in December 2021, an incident that shook the basketball world, came as a shock to everyone.

The Serbian forward was working out on an exercise bike when he experienced fainting tendencies and suddenly collapsed in front of his astonished teammates. It was a human tragedy that words cannot describe, but it also put another nail in the coffin of AEK's already fragile morale. "As I was shooting my last free throws in the game against Riga, I could see his face on the backboard," Dimitris Mavroidis revealed when Jelovac was still on life support. The incident took a heavy toll on everyone who knew the deceased athlete.

However, health issues keep tormenting AEK even after Jelovac's passing. A few hours before last Sunday's game against Peristeri, the club announced that guard-forward Braian Angola has a health problem and will be out indefinitely.

Greek media reported that the player suffers from myocarditis due to COVID, adding that his condition is neither life nor career-threatening. Just like with FIBA bans and Bogris, AEK never really explained or clarified the athlete's health issue until his agent Nikos Spanos made a statement on Twitter. Spanos pointed out that there is no cause for concern and that the player has not fully recovered from COVID.

Angola himself asked for privacy on another post, but AEK's and his own poor handling of the case had left much room for speculation. The club issued a rather angry press release, underlining that the public's only reliable source of "real information" on the player's health is AEK BC's official website.

Angola's Twitter post came almost three hours after the Colombian had retweeted a report citing myocarditis as the official diagnosis of his condition.

As the top performer for AEK so far with 14.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists on average, Angola recently was on Maccabi Tel Aviv's list, but the Greek side decided to keep him in Athens as the buyout proposed by the Israelis was deemed too low.

Credit FIBA

With AEK carrying the weight of 17 bans, one would expect them to stick to what the local market can offer. However, the inability to sign any player whose last team wasn't in Greece has brought about some outrageous situations.

For instance, last November, the Greek team came to an agreement with guard Rayvonte Rice and forward Terrance Ferguson, only to find out that there was no way for them to sign a contract. Both players came to Athens, had some practices, and even took a seat next to the bench during a couple of games.

Eventually, Rice and Ferguson signed with other Greek teams (Ionikos and Lavrio, respectively) in early December since the bans were never lifted. By then, AEK had been eliminated from the BCL after winning only one of their six games in the group stage.

Credit AEK BC

Nevertheless, they found a way to boost their roster with free agents Antonis Koniaris and Giannis Kouzeloglou before re-opening the door to non-domestic players. Koniaris tore his ACL in March 2021 and went through a long rehabilitation period before he was cleared to return.

As the door to players who had been in the Greek League recently was wide open, options included athletes presenting different levels of readiness.

Thus came Andy Rautins, the 35-year-old Canadian guard-forward who hadn't played an official game in 22 months. That was a minor detail for AEK and Dedas, who doesn't mind adding as many shooters to his roster as possible.

Rautins had taken on an assistant GM position at the Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. Still, he was eager to trade his suit for a basketball jersey almost two years following his very short-lived stint with Panathinaikos.

Next on Dedas's list was a familiar face. Keith Langford had been AEK's cornerstone from 2019 through 2021, but the two sides decided to terminate their agreement last summer. The 38-year-old guard commented on his former team's financial dependency and credibility via many Twitter posts.

Langford urged AEK to "not budget using money they don't have", "use direct lines of communication about the situation of the club", "give players the freedom to make their own decisions regarding those conditions."

He also mentioned that they "followed a poor business model."

Obviously, all that is water under the bridge for the seasoned veteran scorer and the club that set out to become more sustainable this year, but it keeps signing players without paying off most of the debts.

"This year's balance sheet will close with zero liabilities," owner Makis Angelopoulos heralded in a web interview last August.

"We've had a tough few years, but now we're really good. Our goal is to win titles, we want the Championship and the Cup - that's why we have such good players," he added.

Those goals are still alive, albeit highly unrealistic. Especially in the Greek League, AEK will have to win two best-of-five series against EuroLeague teams Olympiacos and Panathinaikos to get to the title. Besides, they are currently in 5th place in the Greek League standings with a 5-6 record.

The good news is that they have qualified for the Final Four of the Greek Cup, set to take place in Crete between 18 and 20 February. But this year, the basketball part has been completely overshadowed by what has transpired off the court.

Despite the atmosphere of pessimism following a sudden death, a serious health issue, a pile of cases calling for arbitration, and a series of other unfortunate events, coach Dedas doesn't want people to believe that his team got jinxed.

Credit FIBA Media

"There is a general belief that we are very unlucky. I consider it luck, not misfortune. Why look at everything in a negative way?" he recently told the media.

"Angola underwent a preventive check-up as all of our players did. So, that's good news. Although AEK went through all this with Jelovac, I try not to feel self-pity," he argued.

Dedas is right. After all, a team capable of rekindling the passion for basketball in retired players cannot possibly evoke pity but sheer admiration.

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