Pat Beverley, PAOK and a shot at FIBA Europe Cup glory

In a way, they are a perfect match. Pat Beverley and PAOK have both been waiting a long time to feel confetti dropping on them. With the Thessaloniki club back in the FIBA Europe Cup final, PAOK and Pat Bev have a chance for something special.

One of the most vocal players in basketball has spent the guts of two seasons off the radar for most. Pat Beverley has never been shy about sharing his feelings, despite rarely getting the wins to back them up.

Yet this coming week, and the one after, he has a chance to do something he hasn’t in 15 years; win a trophy. Despite only arriving in December, Pat Bev has been embraced by PAOK fans with open arms. If he guides them to glory in the FIBA Europe Cup final, he’ll be immortalised in Thessaloniki.

Win, leave, return, try to win again

There are two major honours on Pat Beverley’s resume. In 2010, with Olympiacos, he lifted the Greek Cup. A year later with Spartak St Petersburg, he won the Russian Cup. In the same season he was named MVP of Eurocup (the second tier competition in Europe). Then he got picked up by the Houston Rockets and seemed on track to be a NBA lifer.

In the interim, the club he won the Russian Cup with was dissolved, reformed, and then dissolved permanently. That last trophy he won became one he’d be ineligible to win. Long before the sanctions that came with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Cup rules were changed to being only for Russian players.

This is all standard European madness. All the while the club he’s now with, PAOK, was lumbering along. Playing in Greece, where Olympiacos and Panathinaikos have only failed to win the league once (AEK in 2002) this century, it wasn’t like they got all that many chances at glory.

Chaos and consequences

Pat Beverley’s on-court identity has been defined by elite level defensive play, an ability to disrupt the opponent’s flow, and, most of all, his unflinching efforts to gain a psychological edge. That comes with a cost.

On the court, there were altercations with DeAndre Ayton and Chris Paul that stand out but it’s what has happened off the court that has made him seem more trouble than he’s worth for NBA teams and the absolute best sides in Europe. The incident where he wouldn’t answer a reporter’s questions because she didn’t subscribe to his podcast was petty.

Then there were his comments ahead of signing with Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2024 before, to put it succinctly, having clear disagreements with head coach Dimitris Itoudis while there. That led to a suspension and his eventual departure. Throw in his eventually dismissed case for alleged assault and there has been a lot of noise following Pat Beverley around in recent times.

BallinEurope is ramping up its YouTube game this season. Subscribe to our channel now for player exclusives, analysis videos, and much more.

A shot at clarity

PAOK fit two very important criteria when it comes to Patrick Beverley. They can’t, or at least couldn’t, compete financially with Euroleague level clubs for talent so they were more open to players with baggage. The second is that they were bought in December by billionaire metals trader Aristotelis Mistakidis, who immediately set about trying to improve the on-court product.

That led to Pat Bev being signed shortly after the purchase. He was, fiscally speaking, a level above what PAOK or indeed the FIBA Europe Cup have been used to in recent times. Beverley took on a prominent role quickly but not an overused one. His minutes have grown as the campaign has progressed to only really now being at the heavy level.

Mistakidis wants PAOK in Euroleague, which would make them the first Greek side outside of the big two to do so since Maroussi in the 2009/10 season. Beverley has been embraced by PAOK fans, including literally, as they believe he is leading a long awaited resurgence.

PAOK have been smart with how they’ve managed the load on Pat Bev during their FIBA Europe Cup run.
Pic: FIBA

And what a place to do it

Considering the stranglehold that Panathinaikos and Olympiacos have over Greek basketball, you’d be forgiven for thinking fans of other clubs might lose interest. You couldn’t be any more wrong. PAOK fans are wild and their rivalry with fellow Thessaloniki club Aris is lit.

This is a club without a trophy of note to its name since the Greek Cup in 1999 and yet it still has one of the most intense fanbases in Europe. Pat Beverley was hired to help end that drought but he’s more than just a piece on the floor, he’s helping to reshape the club’s identity into a winner again.

Fans feel more connected to players at a club like PAOK. Pat Bev has embraced that on their run through the FIBA Europe Cup. He wasn’t there when they reached the final last year but has been instrumental in their return.

BallinEurope has a book, a real life actual book called I Like it Loud, and you can buy it on Amazon now. It’s here as a book and here in Kindle form.

So, the FIBA Europe Cup you say?

European basketball has no shortage of competitions. The FIBA Europe Cup is the fourth tier pan-continental trophy. At the top there is Euroleague. Then there’s a debate over whether Eurocup or the Basketball Champions League is second. Nobody doubts that the FIBA Europe Cup is fourth.

And it’s wonderful. This year’s final is a rematch of last year. Bilbao aim to become the first team to ever retain the title while PAOK and Pat Beverley will be going all out to stop them. It’s a two-legged final, with the winner determined by the aggregate score over two legs. The first is in Thessaloniki on Wednesday.

For both PAOK and Pat Bev, there’s an element of need here. PAOK will be in the Greek League playoffs but they’re not winning the championship. They might strengthen the roster next year but the gulf between them and the big two means that even the steps they take likely won’t be enough to challenge for trophies domestically.

Pat Beverley, at 37, is near the end of his time on the floor. This is a rare chance at this stage of his career to be the difference. He can end his personal wait for glory and go down as a legend in a basketball mad city. If ever there was a time for him to back up his big talk, this is it. The level may be lower but the stakes, for Pat Bev, have rarely been higher.

The post Pat Beverley, PAOK and a shot at FIBA Europe Cup glory appeared first on BallinEurope.