Milicic: “We deserved the win”

Igor Milicic: “We deserved the win”

ARIS Betsson head coach Igor Milicic stated after the victory over AEK and the series being tied at 1-1:

“We got the win and made it 1-1 in the series. I think we deserved this victory; we played quite hard from start to finish. We controlled the rhythm and the score for most of the game. I know many people thought we were ready to go on vacation, but we proved that this is not the case. This team worked hard during the 20-day break. It is very important that you know this, because it is very difficult to stay focused and committed at the end of the season. Now we did what we wanted. Congratulations to our fans who filled the arena, even though we had lost in Athens, which means they had faith in us.”

On whether it is positive that the next game of the series will take place in one week:

“At first, I did not like this scenario. However, now, given the current situation, I am satisfied with it. Congratulations to Antetokounmpo and Mitrou-Long, who played while injured, with one of them also having a fever. We will have time for them to recover. This is important for us, so that we can go to Athens in the best possible condition. That is why I am happy there is this gap. However, it is unusual for this to happen. We will have to adapt to this situation.”

Sakota: “ARIS was more focused at the end”

AEK head coach Dragan Sakota stated on his part:

“It was a very good game. ARIS was more focused at the end. We made some mistakes, which experienced players should not make. We did not have a player to make the open shots that were there. There were 20 free throws in the first half, something you will not see again in basketball.”