PAOK can win at Falco Szombathely
PAOK can win at Falco Szombathely
The Greek team has a very good odd (2.00) in this game against Falco Szombathely. The truth is that PAOK this season cannot be considered a candidate to make the BasketballCL playoffs due to their lower budget. They won’t do miracles in this group stage because their roster is average and made in the last minute of the summer when they have found money to buy some players.
Last game at home against Besiktas, revealed the weakness of PAOK in front of better teams. The Greeks were leading with 5 points (60-55), but then in the last 5 minutes, they were witnessing a tremendous 14-0 run from the visitors (60-69). This situation shows 2 important things about their basketball level: PAOK can fight, but cannot win with BasketballCL powerhouses.
But the Hungarian team is anything, but not a powerhouse in this competition. They qualified in the BasketballCL groups after eliminating CSM Oradea and Ventspils, similar teams, with Fiba Europe Cup level. PAOK is a bit better than those squads, having by far a larger bench made by Greek players, some of them already old, but with experience and I don’t think they will give up so easily.
If PAOK losses in Szombathely the things are very clear: they are so weak that are not able to beat even a poor team from Hungary, that is coming from the qualifiers. This game can be important to rebuild the confidence of the Greek team and to help them maintain a chance in this group. The road to the playoffs is long but if they lose with Falco, it will be more difficult to reach it especially when difficult games are coming.
Photo: championsleague.basketball
Gratian Cormos
