By Aris Barkas
Panionios is playing against Olympiacos in the Greek play offs semi finals and the team from Nea Smyrni means business. One of the few Greek teams left without major economical problems, Panionios wants to finish the season at least in third place behind the Reds and Panathinaikos in order to gain a place in next season’s Eurocup.
So when Anandolu Efes came asking for Vasilis Xanthopoulos, Panionios said “no”. The Turkish club is still searching for a player to replace point guard Vlado Ilievski that left for Lokomotiv Kuban. Efes‘ goal is to win the Turkish championship and Xanthopoulos, who is having a great season, was their main target. The ambitions of Panionios kept the 27 years old guard in Greece and he would probably sign a new contract with the team for next season. His current deal ends this summer.