Βy Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
American center Hilton Armstrong was signed by Panathinaikos in order to be a starter, he had a good season in France as a player of ASVEL, but the way his new coach Argiris Pedoulakis uses him, indicates that there is an imminent danger for his place in the team’s roster.
In the big game against Olympiacos Armstrong was a starter, but before the first five minutes of the game he was subbed and never played again. The same pattern was repeated before in the Euroleague game against Cantu.
Even in the easy game against Aris, for the 1st gameday in Greek league, Armstrong had very limited minutes and it’s clear that his coach’s intention is to replace him and continue the season with the minutes at position “5” divided between Sofoklis Shortsanitis and Stephane Lasme, who was used 22 minutes against Olympiacos, even though he is still adapting to his new team.
The decision seems to be now at the hands of team’s owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos. If he gives his consent, then Armstrong will be heading to the exit and the new question will be what kind of player Panathinaikos will add, one other big, or maybe one more guard able to create for his teammates in offense.