The Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament Power arrives in Sydney with a rare blend of prestige and curiosity, uniting two of Europe’s most decorated clubs—Panathinaikos BC AKTOR and KK Partizan—with NBL flag-bearers the Sydney Kings and the Adelaide 36ers. What elevates this edition beyond a typical preseason hit-out is the staging: it’s the first time the event has been held outside Europe, folding EuroLeague pedigree into a packed Australian calendar and creating a meeting point for styles, scouting philosophies, and fan cultures.
The combination of a double-header format and heavyweight opponents gives Australia’s fan base an uncommon chance to measure NBL pace and space against the size, discipline, and set-piece execution that typify Europe’s elite. It is a showcase for how modern basketball translates across continents, and a sneak peek at how rosters intend to play when trophies and table positions are on the line in the months ahead.
How to watch and when to tune in
For viewers planning the couch-to-arena routine, the essential logistics are straightforward. The Sydney double-header at Qudos Bank Arena has two fixtures: Partizan versus the Sydney Kings at 4:30 p.m., followed by Panathinaikos against the Adelaide 36ers at 7:00 p.m. local time. Broadcast coverage is locked in through Fox Sports 505, Kayo, and Disney+, ensuring national reach and an accessible digital option for fans who prefer streaming.
That clarity around carriage matters; preseason tournaments can sometimes be patchwork for viewers, but this one carries a prime-time footprint designed to maximize audience and make the occasion feel like the marquee event it is. The Melbourne opener sold out—evidence of the appetite for this crossover—and the Sydney tickets moved quickly, underscoring that it’s not just a curiosity but a hot ticket on the Australian hoops calendar.
The schedule and the momentum coming in
Momentum can be manufactured in September, and Panathinaikos arrived with a tailwind. In the opener at John Cain Arena, Kendrick Nunn guided the Greens past Partizan, the kind of early statement that hints at midseason sharpness even in the looser rhythms of a preseason tournament. The matchup provided a real-time barometer for where both clubs are with their offensive flow and defensive communication, especially in late-clock situations where EuroLeague teams excel at extracting good looks from continuity actions.
For Partizan, the quick turnaround into a date with the Kings becomes an intriguing test of how fast newcomers like Shake Milton can mesh with Zeljko Obradovic’s demands. The schedule compacts scouting, adjustments, and travel into a 72-hour lab—an ideal environment to surface things that need tightening before league campaigns begin.
What history tells us about the stage
Panathinaikos and Partizan bring trophy-stuffed résumés to Australia. Panathinaikos, founded in 1919, are the reigning EuroLeague champions and seven-time kings of Europe, layered atop a staggering 40 Greek titles. Partizan, formed in 1945, boast 49 trophies including 21 national championships. That history carries a certain weight; when these brands tour, they don’t just scrimmage—they export standards.
Last year’s iteration of the tournament drew a record crowd of 42,000 in Athens, a reminder that this event is both a tribute to club icon Pavlos Giannakopoulos and a living celebration of European basketball’s culture. Bringing that pageantry to Australia is significant and follows a week in which Melbourne hosted the first-ever EuroLeague-versus-EuroLeague game on Australian soil, setting the tone for a multi-city celebration of top-tier hoops.
Star power and must-watch matchups
If you’re circling names, start with Kendrick Nunn, whose move to Europe has yielded a EuroLeague MVP, back-to-back All-EuroLeague First Team nods, and the kind of three-level scoring that bends coverages even when opponents know what’s coming. His duel with Bryce Cotton—making his first appearance in an Adelaide jersey—has genuine marquee juice.
Cotton’s reputation in the NBL is carved into hardware, and the catalytic guard’s first steps with the 36ers will be judged through the prism of whether he can immediately lift spacing, pace, and late-game shot creation against a defense that will bump, switch, and chase for a full forty.
For Partizan, the arrival of Shake Milton brings an NBA-tested guard into Obradovic’s system, a fascinating fit given Milton’s off-the-bounce craft and the coach’s affection for advantage chaining and inside-out reads. Add Jabari Parker’s size-skill blend on the wing and Juancho Hernangomez’s Swiss-army impact for Panathinaikos, and you have a cluster of players who can swing tempo and tilt matchups within a few possessions.
What the NBL sides gain beyond the scoreboard
For the Kings and the 36ers, the outcomes matter less than the film. The Kings, integrating and calibrating around explosive guard Kendric Davis, get to stress-test half-court actions against elite stunts and tags, a process that can speed up chemistry far more effectively than domestic scrimmages. The 36ers, meanwhile, can judge how Cotton’s gravity changes everything from weak-side discipline to early-offense decision-making for secondary creators.
European opponents punish late rotations and sloppy screens; that immediate feedback loop is gold for coaches shaping October lineups and special-teams packages. The Kings will be particularly keen to see how their guards navigate pressure pickups that push ball-handlers toward the sidelines, while Adelaide’s staff will monitor how quickly their bigs adjust to the physicality and footwork required to defend Spain pick-and-roll variants and post splits that Partizan and Panathinaikos run as baseline grammar.
Tactical themes to watch during the double-header
Set your eyes on two themes: defensive versatility and late-clock creation. Panathinaikos under Ergin Ataman can toggle schemes mid-possession, toggling from show-and-recover to drop to switch depending on personnel, which stresses decision-making for NBL guards and short-roll playmakers. Partizan’s collective glass work and high-low timing, staples of Obradovic teams, tend to produce second-chance points and foul pressure; how the Kings box out and peel in help will reveal early season habits.
Offensively, watch the 36ers’ pace when Cotton sits and whether they manufacture paint touches through dribble handoffs or force pull-ups under duress. For Sydney, Kendric Davis’s two-man game chemistry could produce downhill gaps if they get screening angles right; against EuroLeague defenders who shade middle, those angles decide whether possessions end with drives, sprays, or contested mid-rangers. These micro-battles are preseason tells that often carry over into November form.
The atmosphere and what it signals for basketball in Australia
The Melbourne leg sold out and Sydney demand has surged, confirming that Australian fans crave top-shelf international product and that the NBL’s strategy—curating global showcases like this—keeps widening the tent. That’s not just a feel-good headline; it has practical effects. Players notice destinations where arenas hum, broadcasters notice inventory that rates, and sponsors notice events that feel bigger than the night itself.
Successfully hosting the Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament on Australian soil also strengthens the country’s pitch as a neutral-site destination for future European exhibitions or intercontinental club events. With the EuroLeague and NBL brands both invested in growing their global footprints, this weekend effectively becomes a proof-of-concept: that mixing continents doesn’t dilute identities but rather amplifies them, particularly in a sports market that rewards high-quality competition and entertainment value.
Players to watch and what they’re saying
The headline names arrive with subplots. Nunn has been publicly enthusiastic about testing himself against Cotton’s shot-making, a meeting of MVPs that frames the primetime window. Parker’s move to Partizan after a standout year in Spain sets up a test of how quickly he can be a two-way connector in a new scheme, while Hernangomez’s motor and length give Panathinaikos a plug-and-play impact piece who can shift lineups from jumbo to versatile without sacrificing spacing.
On the NBL side, Davis’s backcourt leadership is being watched for continuity from last season’s surge, and Cotton’s first strides in 36ers colors are a legitimate storyline by themselves. The quotes from camp have mirrored the excitement: respect for the opponents, belief in internal growth, and an eagerness to benchmark against standards set by serial trophy collectors. It is the right kind of talk for September—ambitious but grounded in the work of installing systems and roles.
What a successful night looks like for each team
Success wears different faces in preseason. For Panathinaikos, it is about sustaining the opener’s defensive physicality while broadening the rotation, giving staff reliable data on second-unit combinations and late-game lineups. For Partizan, the goals skew toward integration—accelerating Milton’s comfort, chiseling timing with Parker, and hardening defensive rules that will translate to EuroLeague travel weeks.
The Kings will want to see a clear identity on both ends—ball pressure without fouling, downhill intent in the half-court, and clean glass work against taller, longer frontcourts—while the 36ers will judge progress by how quickly the offense reorganizes itself around Cotton’s gravity and whether their wings turn stops into early-clock advantages. If those boxes get ticked, the scoreline will feel secondary to the knowledge gained before the real grind begins.
The bottom line: a powerful September litmus test
Strip away the preseason label and what remains is a powerful litmus test for four clubs with very different horizons. The event honors the legacy of Pavlos Giannakopoulos while furnishing Australian fans with a best-in-class viewing experience across broadcast and streaming. It gives NBL contenders a real calibration against EuroLeague excellence, and it gives European champions and challengers a chance to connect with a ravenous new market.
Whether you come for the stars, the tactics, the atmosphere, or simply the novelty of titans from different hemispheres sharing a marquee, this Sydney showcase is essential viewing. Expect intensity, measured rotations, and a few sequences that will be replayed well into the regular season—exactly what a preseason tournament should deliver when the lights are bright and the standards are high.
Key information in this preview, including schedule, broadcast details, event history, and player storylines, is drawn from the NBL’s official tournament preview; additional context on the Melbourne opener result and EuroLeague-in-Australia milestone is corroborated by Australian basketball and EuroLeague reports.
