Gaios Skordilis (2m08) is one of the new faces to be added to Panathinaikos. He was incorporated into the team’s delegation at Karpenisi and signed on with the Greens.
He was born on the 6th of December 1987 in Corfu and his first professional basketball steps were made with Aris, team for which he competed from 2006 up to 2011. In the 2011-2012 season he wore the Ikaros Kallitheas jersey, scoring 92 points (5.8 p.g.) behind 32/53 twos’ and 28/42 free throws, 63 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 blocked shots and 5 steals in a14.1 minutes game time average. Skordilis is also a familiar face to national youth teams, having a participation in the 2005 U-18 European Championship but also a silver medal at the 2009 Mediterranean Games, in Pescara , Italy .
Skordilis stressed when speaking of his transfer to the clover that he responded directly in a positive manner to Panathinaikos’ offer: “Panathinaikos was nowhere in the background for me initially and I was not expecting any interest towards my part from the team, to be frank. But when the interest was illustrated and an offer was made, I did not second guess it. In a heartbeat I accepted, traveled to Karpenisi and signed my contract. The guys had already begun preparation, the first couple of days we had to work somewhat harder in order for me too, to learn the plays that had already been taught, but I believe I found my stride eventually. The team is not complete yet, it is a fact. We must all await the final synthesis and work through the first friendly games. It is not a secret that a new beginning is taking place but I believe that everything will turn out fine. At the moment we are missing Ukic who has still to fulfill his obligations with the Croatia national squad, as does at least one more player. For me, the very positive factor was the presence of a friend on the roster, Haris Yannopoulos whilst I must add that, although I have been on the team only for a brief period of time, I have already learned a lot from coach Argiris Pedoulakis, things that other coaches had not shown me before. He insists we read into every play and we have been working immensely on this exact issue. And with players such as Diamantidis, Ukic, Panko it is a feasible situation, granting us an edge over teams which may have the ability to run but not to read into the game behind the equivalent velocity. I know that the fans expect the very best from this team and they are justified to do so. A new order exists, many new faces, but people who were before us here for years, not only players but also members on the technical staff have tried to makes us really understand what Panathinaikos stands for. I am not one for promises and pompous statements… What I want and want the lot of us want is one thing: “To be able to catch the goals the team will aim towards”.
