Igor Milicic: “Congratulations to the players for the win that made our fans happy.”
Igor Milicic, head coach of Aris BC Betsson, stated after the win over AEK BC:
“Before I talk about the game, I want to congratulate coach Dragan Sakota. He showed great sportsmanship, which is why he is one of the most respected coaches in Europe. He gave a positive response for this game to be played despite the lighting issue, and I truly respect him for that.
I also want to congratulate my players for this win that made our fans happy. It was a challenging game for us. AEK has a very good rhythm and is a quality team. We gave our best, and our team spirit was there. We played aggressively and applied a lot of pressure. Defensively, we made some mistakes, and I don’t know how many layups we missed today. Still, it’s a huge win at this stage of the season.”
On the final play involving Elijah Mitrou-Long:
“We wanted to go for the shot and score. It was a chaotic situation; some players understood things differently. But that’s the game. We knew how important this match was. We had a chaotic week, went to Peristeri and came back without training. Then we had AEK ahead of us, another big team. It’s not easy to play games like that. When we were relaxed during the game, some messages didn’t reach the right ears.”
On the team’s defensive performance in the fourth quarter:
“There were definitely situations where we made defensive mistakes. Ronnie Harrell made big shots. We didn’t defend properly against James Nunnally, and players like him take advantage of even the smallest mistake. But the problem was mainly on offense, where we held the ball too much. That didn’t happen in the first 35 minutes. In the second quarter, even with switches, we found solutions. Old habits return under pressure and noise. I believe we’re improving in finding solutions as a team. It was a combination of factors that led to this defensive situation. However, the first quarter was our worst defensively. During the game, we missed four or five layups, something that hadn’t happened in the last ten games. We’ll keep the win and we should be proud of it.”
On the condition of Kostas Antetokounmpo:
“Kostas wanted to play. He hadn’t trained in recent days due to a minor injury, which is being evaluated by our medical staff. He decided to try and help the team. In the first quarter he felt something, so we didn’t want to take any risks. I’m happy we managed to win even without him. I know AEK also had important absences. Kostas is very important for us defensively and in rebounding. I hope this break gives us the chance for his return.”
On the team’s eighth consecutive win:
“We keep our heads down and stay humble. We work hard every day despite the blows and the propaganda. We know where these attacks come from and we don’t pay attention to them. We now have more time to train. Nikos Zisis, the management, the coaching staff, and the players are all working hard. We’ve clicked as a team and know what we need to do to get the wins we want. These attacks will continue, but people now take us seriously. At the start of the season, the team looked completely different. We don’t focus on what happens off the court. Even the negative environment and lack of respect push us to have an even stronger desire to succeed.”
Dragan Sakota added:
“It was a very interesting game. It was decided by a few details at the end, where Aris had better choices than us. We could have defended better, and in two possessions we rushed without reason. We had some absences, but we held on for forty minutes. Congratulations to Aris for the win. We move on, we have many crucial games ahead. Some things were positive, others need analysis and criticism. We look at the next day. Best of luck to Aris.”
