“The destination is not important, the journey is,” people say. Vassilis Spanolis' Bvin dove this year's journey to reach the Final Four of the Basketball Champions League in Belgrade, with a bitter finale to a dream season, but also a very proud one.
The decision by Peristeri Bvin's management to give Vassilis Spanoulis the keys to the team in the summer of 2022 was a bold one. This is because it is not a given that a great player will make a good coach. Perhaps the opposite is essentially the case.
But fortune favors the brave, so the group from the western suburbs embarked on a new road, uphill, but full of beautiful moments. A road that took her to the Starc Arena in Belgrade for the Final Four of the Basketball Champions League 2024.
The Stark Arena was no longer the promised land for Kill-Bill and his players after the much-experienced Marcelino Huertas – Giorgio Sermontini's two-time Tenerife ban, but Kyle Guy's move to the Canaries mid-season from Panathinaikos Aktor turned out to be a new weapon in Sus Vidoretta's trepidation, something he couldn't overcome. Proved. Even on a night when Peristeri Bwin managed to score 93 points with 7 accurate 3-pointers on 29 attempts.
However, having a Greek club in Serbia's capital was the icing on the cake. It was the culmination of months of work by perfectionist Vassilis Spanoulis and his cohorts, who had to rebuild everything from scratch in the summer of 2023 by adding eight new players to the team's roster.
Of course, the 2022/23 season was led by a very good course, which was marked by the presence of the club in the final of the Cup, but the third place in the Basket League.
There was an appetite, there was a plan and expectations were created for something even bigger in the 2023/24 season. What could be better than a long – often difficult – but ultimately very successful European trip? Because if anyone thought that the Dove lost to Tenerife, they were definitely very wrong.
The fans of the West Coast Princes – the hundreds who traveled with their team to Belgrade, who never stopped singing for a moment, but also watched the Final Four semi-final from afar – had nothing but pride. Realize V-Span managed together with its athletes.
Bevin Dove fans at Stark Arena
Intime Sports
Because they didn't stop for a moment to fight with all their might within four lines of the parquet. It has already pierced the ceiling, and it will be very difficult to pass another one. Will this happen in the (immediate) future? We'll have to wait for the episodes to find out.
Until then, we will have to remember this entire European tour with a bittersweet feeling, starting on October 17th at Le Mans in France and ending at the Stark Arena on Sunday, April 28th. Better with a win against Murcia.
