PAOK cruises past Vikos Falcons: Hudgins – Mitrou-Long backcourt explodes under Trinchieri's philosophy

In the crisp air of the Metsovo mountains, where PAOK chose to build their physical conditioning ahead of the new season, Andrea Trinchieri's men completed their final preparation test against newly promoted Vikos Falcons. The result was not overly surprising: a rather comfortable victory, reinforcing the confidence in the playing style established by the Italian coach during the preseason. The standout attraction continues to be the backcourt duo of Trevor Hudgins and Naz Mitrou-Long – two names truly providing the creative spark for the Thessaloniki club's offensive system. Who is Andrea Trinchieri? Undoubtedly, he is one of the most experienced tacticians of his generation in Europe. From winning the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, impressing at Partizan Belgrade, or leading Žalgiris Kaunas, his philosophy remains unchanged: strict tactical discipline in the half-court offense, aggressive defensive pressure, and extremely high execution demands. Having a EuroLeague-caliber coach lead a mid-tier Greek league club like PAOK represents a clearly directional investment from the ownership. They want to escape mediocrity, compete properly with teams of similar stature like Peristeri, Promitheas, or Aris, and further aim for a spot in European competition. Looking at the bigger picture, the win over Vikos Falcons is just a small piece of the testing phase. Prior to that, PAOK defeated TFT Skopje 94-69 on August 22, demonstrating their class superiority against weaker opposition. On August 29, they secured a narrow 84-82 victory over Peristeri – a team of similar competitive standing; this is the true measuring stick. Against Vikos, comfortably overpowering the newly promoted side on neutral ground in Metsovo only highlighted the gap in quality. But setting aside the scoreline, the tactical imprint left by coach Trinchieri is what deserves the most discussion. PAOK's center of gravity this season revolves around the duo of Trevor Hudgins and Naz Mitrou-Long. Hudgins, the 2026-23 G League champion and former two-way contract player with the Houston Rockets, is an elite three-point shooter with deep range and a lightning-quick release. At 25, he is in the peak performance stage for a scoring-oriented point guard. Mitrou-Long, meanwhile, brings NBA experience (Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers) and EuroLeague experience (Olimpia Milano, Saski Baskonia), offering a lethal blend as a combo guard. The match against Vikos Falcons continued to showcase the many smooth combinations between these two offensive engines. From my observation, their ability to isolate defenders and create space in the offensive half is PAOK's most difficult weapon to counteract. But the crucial factor making them mesh so well lies in Mitrou-Long's Greek citizenship. This allows PAOK to save a precious foreign player slot under the league's import restrictions. We must be objective. Beating a newly promoted side like Vikos Falcons does not fully reflect the difficulty of the upcoming journey. Jordan Floyd on the opposing side was an exception: he stood out with his consistent scoring ability, but this is the kind of 'empty stats' – scoring many points in a losing effort. Those numbers are rarely a precise measure of true impact. Conversely, internal troubles are beginning to show in PAOK's defensive line as Bryn Tayri had to leave the court in the second quarter due to a collision to his left knee. Preseason often exposes the fragility of roster depth, and if this injury proves serious, it will test the limits of a squad operating on a mid-tier budget. Many fans might look at the 94-69 win over TFT Skopje and the victory over Vikos and raise expectations. I believe this is one-sided. A writer of the data school cannot assert certainty based solely on numbers that lie during friendlies. The benchmark truth for a mid-tier Greek team lies in the narrow 84-82 victory over Peristeri. That opponent is of the same level, same class, where the gap in tactics and focus is erased by decisive moments. Therefore, the real test will be at the Udine tournament from September 5 to 6, where PAOK will face Serie A opposition. Serie A is renowned for its tactical sophistication – a stark contrast to the physical style often seen in the Greek league. This will be the moment Trinchieri tests the true limits of his backcourt quartet and the endurance of his new signings under real match pressure. For Vikos Falcons, their survival goal this season is to stay up. As a newly promoted side with a tight budget, the encounter with PAOK was merely a warm-up to gauge the league's intensity. Their match against Promitheas on September 3 will be a more serious milestone, where they need to operate a concrete block of defense and remain composed against players of superior class. As for PAOK, the biggest question remains their frontcourt. The pressure of a long campaign will be a difficult puzzle once Hudgins is tightly marked or Mitrou-Long declines. Will Trinchieri's team have a solid Plan B to stand firm? Perhaps the Italian tactician is quietly calculating for a deeper goal: qualifying for European play and forging a squad full of hunger, all while the foundation continues to be built one day at a time.