PAOK Missing Calathes and Alexander Ahead of Rhodes Trip, Motiejūnas Awaits Debut

On Friday morning, at Makedonia Airport in Thessaloniki, PAOK's boarding list was missing two familiar names. Nick Calathes and Kyle Alexander were not part of the group travelling to Rhodes. Calathes stayed behind because of persistent heel pain. Alexander stayed behind because of an issue with his right hand. At the same time, another name appeared for the first time on the official domestic squad list in Greece: Donatas Motiejūnas. Two absences, one debut — in a single morning, the roster picture of the black-and-white club had changed entirely ahead of Round 3 of the Stoiximan GBL.

Based on my experience tracking games and travel lists of European clubs, I have learned one thing: a boarding list is never just about travel. It is the shortest contract a club signs with its fans every week. Who boards, who stays, who is placed in the foreign-player group — all of it is small accounting lines sitting behind a big game.

Context: Round 3 and the foreign-player puzzle

PAOK enter Round 3 of the Stoiximan GBL with a road trip to Kolossos Rhodes, tipping off at 16:00 on 17 October. This is the stage where every Greek club has to wrestle with the rules on the number of registered foreign players. The league limits the number of foreigners on the game roster, and that limit turns every slot into a strategic decision.

Motiejūnas replacing Cliff Omoruyi in the eight-man foreign group is therefore more than a swap. It is a statement about how head coach Andrea Trinchieri views this game. Omoruyi is a young, athletic centre suited to a fast pace. Motiejūnas is a Lithuanian veteran with deep European experience and a past in the NBA. These two players represent two entirely different philosophies.

Trinchieri took 13 players to Rhodes: Grey, Mitrou-Long, Tairi, Osman, Hugaz, Hudgins, Kaklamanakis, Foster, Persidis, Motiejūnas, Fillios, Moore and Bazinas. A list deep enough to rotate, but thin at the crucial spots.

Core insight: when the tempo-setter is absent

The most telling part of this trip is not Motiejūnas. It is the absence of Calathes.

Calathes is the kind of player whose value cannot be measured in points. He organises the attack, controls the tempo, and turns messy possessions into a system. When he sits, PAOK lose their tempo-setter. Modric does not need the captain's armband — the whole pitch knows who is setting the rhythm. That line holds true in football, and it holds twice as true for a basketball team missing its primary playmaker.

Calathes's heel problem is more worrying than an ordinary injury. The heel bears the entire body weight in every step, every cut. For a player past thirty-five, pain in that area rarely disappears after a few days of rest. It returns, quietly, exactly when the team needs him most.

Kyle Alexander stayed in Thessaloniki with a right-hand issue. The hand is a centre's tool of trade: catching, finishing, contesting. A hand injury does not stop a player from running, but it stops him from doing his job at the level required.

The combination of these two absences puts PAOK in a difficult position. The team loses an organiser on the perimeter and a rim protector inside. In modern basketball, those are the two spinal columns of the offensive and defensive system.

Motiejūnas, therefore, steps in not as a newcomer needing time to adapt, but as a man expected to fill the gap immediately. He has experience, skill, and the ability to play with his back to the basket. But he is no longer young, and debuting in a game where the team is missing two pillars is a harsh test.

Contrarian angle: the contract that is never announced

Greek media will give most of their lines to Motiejūnas's debut. But I would argue the real blind spot of this story lies elsewhere.

PAOK are building a squad that depends far too much on a single player in the playmaking role. When Calathes is healthy, the system runs smoothly. When he is absent, the team loses its identity. That is a fragile structure, and it cannot be solved with a short-term contract.

There are contracts that are never announced — I write them in my notebook and keep silent. The unannounced contract here is a tacit commitment that a thirty-five-year-old player will always be available. No club can sign that commitment with a human body.

The second blind spot lies in how we read injuries. A heel injury is not a full stop — it is a signal. People call it a slip; I call it the place where you start standing firm. For Calathes, this may be the moment PAOK are forced to learn how to play without him, a lesson they have postponed for too long.

Takeaway

Kolossos Rhodes are not the strongest opponent, but their arena is a place where teams missing their tempo-setter often pay the price. If PAOK win easily, people will talk about Motiejūnas. If they struggle, people will remember Calathes.

What interests me more is the next game, when both return. Because the real question is not whether PAOK get past Round 3, but whether they can build a system that does not collapse every time a thirty-five-year-old man has a sore heel.

The sweeter the news, the more carefully it must be chewed.