AEK Athens – the squad with the most veterans in Europe
One of the most constant presence in Basketball Champions League since the beginning, AEK Athens is again a true title contender. At the end of September, the Final 8 of the 2019-2020 season will be played and it seems that OAKA Arena is the main candidate to host it. Which is giving to the Greek side another opportunity to reach the European glory. Between the most important opponents at this final tournament, there will be Turk Telekom Ankara, Casademont Zaragoza, Iberostar Tenerife, Hapoel Jerusalem and San Pablo Burgos.
The Greek side is continuing with many players from their last year’s core while adding some new faces during the summer break. Their most important feature is the experience since the majority of their key players are veterans very know in European basketball. Let’s see who they are:
Nicolaos Zizis – 37 years old, one of the most famous Greek basketball players of the modern era
Keith Langford – 36 years old, former Euroleague top scorer for many seasons
Marcus Slaughter – 35 years old, Euroleague champion with Real Madrid back in 2015
Matt Lojeski – 35 years old, former Euroleague starter with Olympiacos
Jonas Maciulis – 35 years old, Lithuanian international with a large experience in Spanish and Russian leagues
Dimitris Mavroeidis – the Greek center was last month 35 years old and he is still in shape.
Tyrese Rice – 33 years old, the Euroleague and Eurocup winner, Champions League MVP (2019), maybe the best guard in the whole European competition organized by FIBA
The other guys from the roster are as well quite experienced: Yannick Moreira (29), Vladimir Jankovic (30), Nikos Gkikas (29) and Dimitrios Katsivelis (28) which makes AEK Athens without a doubt the team with most veterans and experienced players in entire Europe. It remains to be seen if this will be a key factor to win some new titles in the near future for the Greek side.
Image: Basketball Champions League
Gratian Cormos
