Great news today for Panionios since the Greek team successfully acquired 6 new players after managing to cover the economical difference with Ivan Zoroski. The “Red and Blue” finalized the deal with Vasillis Xanthopoulos, Yaroslav Korolev, Dimitris Verginis, Tony Woods, Niko Strnad and Brian Fitzpartrick. With these new additions of experienced players,the team’s roster will be way more powerful and will be able to reach their goal, to avoid relegation.
Who is Who:
Vasilis Xanthopoulos: The ex-Panionios point guard, returns to Nea Smirni after his career to Olympiacos, Panathiniakos, PAOK and Panellinios. Last year he was playing for Rio Natura Monbus in Spain. He is also part of the Greek National team roster since 2011.
Dimitris Verginis: The Greek player started his professional career playing for PAOK. He left and moved to Panathinaikos and soon after in Aris. In 2012 he got to Spain playing for Bilbao which gave him some very important experiences.
Yaroslav Korolev: The most well known of 6 is Yaroslav Korolev. The Russian Forward (2.08cm tall), was drafted at the 12th position of the NBA drafts of 2005 from Los Angeles Clippers. He played for two years in the NBA counting 34 appearances. He has also played for CSKA Moscow, Granada and Spartak Saint Petersburg among others.
Tony Woods: The American Center (2.11) played for Kifissia last season, moving from Oregon where he played for Oregon Ducks.
Niko Strnad: The Slovenian point guard, who played for Ikaros the last two seasons, moved to Panionios, possibly as a substitute to Vasillis Xanthopoulos. Last year he had 6.1 points per game and 1.1 assist in 19 minutes average.
Brian Fitzpatrick: Born in New York in 1989, the American forward graduated from Bucknell University and came to Greek to play for Rethimno, but he was set free recently. Last year he had 9.3points and 5.1 rebs average in 25.1 mins.