Panathinaikos AKTOR faced Peristeri (90–93) in their first friendly of the new season, a training-oriented match held on Wednesday, September 10, at the Telekom Center Athens.

With several absences due to players participating in EuroBasket 2025, and with most of the new signings included in the lineup, the Panathinaikos AKTOR squad had the opportunity to shake off the intensity of a demanding ten-day training camp.

It was the unofficial debut for T.J. Shorts, Richaun Holmes, Nikos Rogkavopoulos, and Giannis Kouzeloglou, in a game where Christos Serelis had only seven roster players at his disposal.

Following the conclusion of the game, Christos Serelis stated:
“This was our first preparation friendly. We have been training for about ten days. The team, of course, without having all its players available, is trying to assimilate the style of play we want to adopt both defensively and offensively. More than anything, we wanted to test certain defensive schemes rather than focus on offense. The players’ legs are quite heavy at the moment. We do not have much time to prepare, so we are trying to do as much as possible and for the players to learn the coach’s philosophy. Given the absences, it is very important that we have these young players helping in the preparation. This is valuable because it allows us to practice effectively and play full five-on-five during training. The fact that we only had seven players available today speaks for itself. We move forward with the remainder of our preparation, during which we have many aspects to work on and improve.”

Quarters: 23–25, 48–47, 72–65, 90–93.
Panathinaikos AKTOR (Serelis): Shorts 20, Georgas, Holmes 13, Papanikolaou 2, Taylor 1, Rogkavopoulos 11, Grant 10, Kouzeloglou 1, Nunn 22, Mouratos 3, Grigonis 7.
Peristeri (Xanthopoulos): Nichols 13, Cardenas 4, Tubbergen 26, Petrakis 8, Payne 4, Itounas 6, Thomakos 3, Papageorgiou 2, Kaklamanakis 3, Harris 13, Papadakis 9, Asimenios, Jankovic 2.