By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Being 23 years old and not playing is the worst thing that can happen to a player. That was pretty much the story of Bochoridis in Panathinaikos.
A product of Aris, Bochoridis left Thessaloniki for Athens in the summer of 2014, signing with the Greens. He was considered an up and comer, but he never had the chance to prove it on the roster of Panathinaikos. It’s not that Bochoridis is a bad player. After all, in his second BCL game, he was named MVP of the week leading Aris to the 80-72 win over Zielona Gora with 22 points and 9 assists.
Maybe things could have been different for him. Panathinaikos proved to be the wrong team for him in the present state of his career and a fractured fibula in a friendly game against Partizan back in 2015 kept away from the court at a crucial time of his sporting life. He just couldn’t establish himself, or maybe perform under the burden of being the “next big thing”.
“I want to play”
And that’s why Bochoridis – who had a contract until 2019 with the Greens – and Panathinaikos decided that it was better for him to return to Aris, at least until further notice.
Bochoridis was not disappointed at all. On the contrary, his first words were the following: “I want to get minutes and I want to play, giving my best for Aris. I am happy to return and my feelings are great towards the club because I grew up in Aris’ junior teams and achieved the goal of playing in the senior team at an early age. This will help me and I will not need time to adapt. I feel comfortable and ready to play basketball”.
Under coach Panagiotis Giannakis, Aris is trying to build a solid unit and Bochoridis returned to the team in the right timing. He will learn from an icon of European basketball and the team needs him much more than Panathinaikos needed him. And Basketball Champions League gives him the chance to shine again.