Trier Beat Promitheas 87-83 in Michelakos's First Game in Charge

By Taki Panos

A new voice on the bench, a crowd hoping for a reset, and a German team that did not care about any of it. Promitheas lost 87-83 to Gladiators Trier at the Dimitris Tofalos Arena in Patras on Wednesday night, their first defeat in the FIBA Europe Cup, as Gazzetta reported. It was also the first game in charge for interim coach Michalis Michelakos, per Novasports. Promitheas fought back from eight down at half-time and even led in the third quarter. They just could not finish it.

Some context for readers who do not follow Greek basketball week to week. Promitheas are the big club of Patras, and the season has started badly enough that the club parted ways with coach Giorgos Vovoras on October 12, the club announced. In that statement, the club's leadership said they recognize "the share of responsibility that falls to them" (translated from Greek), as Sport24 also reported. Michelakos took over the first team on a temporary basis while the club looks for a permanent coach, according to to10 and Gazzetta.

Trier arrived on a five-game winning streak across all competitions, SWR had noted, and played like it. The visitors raced to an 18-7 lead, Gazzetta wrote, and SWR reported that Michelakos had to call his first timeout after barely two minutes, with the score already 9-3. Promitheas got back within one possession at 18-15 around the sixth minute, but Trier closed the first quarter ahead 25-19. Not the opening anyone in Patras had in mind for a fresh start.

The second quarter was a slow climb. Trier guard Jordan Roland hit a three early, but then Promitheas took control for a stretch while the Germans turned the ball over, SWR reported. The hosts cut the gap to 37-36 and later to 44-41, per Gazzetta, yet they never quite got the lead. Eli Brooks steadied Trier, mostly from the free throw line, and the visitors went into the break up 49-41. Close enough to believe. Far enough to worry.

The third quarter was the best basketball Promitheas played all night. Shannon Evans took over and tied the game at 55-55, and then Jake Forrester put the hosts in front 62-61, as SWR described and Centra Sport confirmed. Promitheas pushed the lead to 70-65 with the momentum fully on their side, according to Gazzetta. Then Trier answered with an 8-0 run to lead 73-70 going into the final ten minutes. That run decided the game.

The fourth quarter was tight and messy. Both teams missed shots and threw passes out of bounds, SWR wrote, and the final period finished just 14-13 in Trier's favor, per the RealGM box score. Evans missed some important threes down the stretch, Skai Patras noted, while Brooks kept running the show for the visitors and Trier stretched it out late. When the buzzer went, Trier had a four-point win and their traveling fans had their first European road victory of the season to celebrate.

The best thing Promitheas had was New Williams. He scored 23 points on 9 of 13 shooting, including 5 of 9 from three, according to Novasports and Skai Patras. Evans added 17 points and five assists, per Gazzetta, and went 7 of 7 from the line, according to both Novasports and Skai Patras. Gazzetta pointed to Williams' big night as the engine of the third-quarter comeback. When one shooter gets that hot, you usually win. Not this time.

Around them, the support was thin. Forrester had nine points and five rebounds and Kendal Coleman added six points and seven rebounds, according to the box score published by Skai Patras and Novasports. Arnoldas Kulboka scored eight, per Skai Patras and tv3. For Trier, coached by Jacques Schneider, Brooks led everyone with 18 points and six assists, while EJ Onu added 15, Novasports reported and tv3 confirmed, with SWR also naming Brooks as the top scorer. Eight different Trier players scored in the first quarter alone, SWR added.

In the standings, Promitheas are now 1-1 in their group after opening with a 91-77 win at Trepca in Kosovo last week, as Protothema reported and Gazzetta recalled. Trier are 2-0. SWR's coverage had described the trip to Patras as the hardest test of the group stage for Trier, with Promitheas seen as the main rival for first place. Greek clubs had a mixed night in this competition, since Iraklis beat Wurzburg 90-73 in Thessaloniki to go 2-0.

The bigger picture is a rough start to the season for Promitheas at home. Before Vovoras left, the team lost 84-59 to Panathinaikos in Patras on October 10, as Sport24 reported, and that defeat came after an earlier league loss to Peristeri, per filathlos. SWR also mentioned thin crowds in the stands on Wednesday. For a club that has spent years as one of the steadier names in Greek basketball culture, empty seats and a coaching change in October are not a good look.

My take: there is more here than the scoreline suggests. Promitheas came back from 11 down early and eight down at half-time, led by five in the third, and made a very good German team sweat to the final minute. That is not a team that has stopped trying. But the fourth quarter was ragged, and too much depended on Williams and Evans. Michelakos had two days between the coaching change and tip-off. Whoever takes the job long term will need more than two scorers to build on.

What comes next is a decision off the court. Promitheas are still searching for their next permanent coach, to10 reported, and Gazzetta said the same. Trier, meanwhile, host KK Split next week, according to SWR. For more Greek basketball, football and everything in between, keep an eye on our Greek Sports section. Close, but not close enough.

Sources: Gazzetta, Novasports, SWR, Skai Patras, Promitheas BC, to10, Sport24, Protothema, Centra Sport, tv3, RealGM.

Image: Flag of Greece, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).