Milicic: “We wanted to meet the expectations of our fans”

The coach of ARIS Betsson, Igor Milicic, stated after the win over Panionios COSMORAMA (75–65):

“It was a very difficult game. From the beginning there was a lot of noise in the arena, a very positive environment created by the media. The Antetokounmpo family came with their mother, and Nikos Galis was also in the arena along with our owner, Richard Hsiao. We knew the arena would be sold out and we wanted to meet the expectations of our fans. In the end, I’m happy we got the win, even though we struggled offensively. We fought until the last minute and secured the victory thanks to our defense. It’s very positive that we managed to win despite our offensive performance.”

On his feelings playing in front of Galis and Giannis Antetokounmpo:

“I used to play against Giannis with our national teams. We have a very good relationship and mutual respect. As for Galis, I’ve said before that I went to Jugoplastika because of the great team he had. At that time, my team had big battles with Aris. I remember games from the University of Zagreb where we faced Greek teams. I know a lot and have great respect for Galis and Panagiotis Giannakis—they made brilliant history here. Step by step, this team is returning to showing this positive atmosphere in the arena. All of this can lead to great things.”

On the upcoming Playoff game against AEK :

“I would have preferred to face another team. However, we fought for 5th place, especially in the last few games. We gave our best without worrying about who our opponent would be. First, our players need to recover. We have some health issues in the team that we’re keeping hidden so our opponents don’t take advantage of them. Now that we know who we’ll face, there will be time for treatment and we will give our best.”

On today’s performance of Mitrou-Long:

“Mitrou-Long played very well in the second half. But it’s not about just one player—it was a collective effort. All the players tried and held Panionios to 65 points in a do-or-die game for the opponent. We played excellent team defense. Everyone did their part. We rely on different players in each game. In one game it’s Jones, in another Mitrou-Long, and in another Danilo Andjusic.”