Basketball in Greece

Panathinaikos snatched home advantage from Olympiakos from the very start of the Basket League finals series with an 83-81 victory in Piraeus on Thursday, after one of the most spectacular games in the league's finals ever.

Panathinaikos crashed out of the Euroleague on Tuesday as Laboral Kutxa swept the Greek Cup holders with a 3-0 score in the best-of-five play-offs after an 84-75 victory in Athens.

Despite playing in front of a capacity crowd of home fans at the Olympic Sports Hall, Panathinaikos had the same problems in defense that condemned it to defeat in Game 1 of the series in Spain.

Greek singer Yannis Zouganelis appeared at the center of the field and sung for the first time the song composed for the great Greek basketball player, Nikos Galis.

Zouganelis grab the opportunity at the halftime of the finals of “Nick Galis Cup” and started singing his song which surprised pleasantly Galis.

Bulgarian basketball player Aleksandar Vezenkov was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Greek Basket League for the past season.

Vezenkov, who spent the past four years at Aris Thessaloniki, is expected to soon sign a contract with Barcelona.

Speaking to the Athens-based Star TV channel, Alternate FM Eucleid Tsakalotos, who now more-or-less heads up the Greek negotiating team, said “we’ll negotiate tomorrow a viable solution”.

Asked how such a solution will come about in 24 hours when five months have passed in fruitless talks, Tsakalotos referred to two new elements.

Bulgaria's rising basketball star Aleksandar Vezenkov reportedly signed a four-year contract with Barcelona.

The 19-year-old power forward joins the Spanish club after spending four years at the Greek team Aris Thessaloniki, daily Dnevnik reports.

According to media reports, among the other clubs expressing interest towards Vezenkov were Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and Valencia.

State Minister of the Greek government, Nikos Pappas said that the aim of the government was to reach an agreement with the country’s partners. He underlined that the question at stake in the Sunday referendum is whether the Greek citizens believe the memoranda implemented were a success story or a failure.

By George Georgakopoulos

Greece's national volleyball team returned to the FIVB World League after a decade of absence with three impressive performances in Mexico last weekend, and stands a good chance for a spot in the third-division Final Four to take place in Slovakia.

Olympiacos earned its 11th Greek basketball title on Sunday night with its 93-74 win against rival Panathinaikos in Game 3 of the finals. It swept its opponent 3-0, returning to its top position after two years as second.

By George Georgakopoulos

Olympiakos had a harder time than expected in beating depleted Panathinaikos in Game 1 of the final series of the Basket League on Sunday, but will still be happy with the 76-70 result at the Peace and Friendship Stadium that maintains it as the clear favorite to win back the league title from its eternal rival.