Playoff opener against AEK BC (14/05, 19:00)

ARIS Betsson faces AEK tomorrow (14/05, 19:00) at Sunel Arena, in the opening game of the quarterfinal phase of the Stoiximan Basket League playoffs.

Igor Milicic’s team finished the regular season in 5th place and will face 4th-placed AEK without home-court advantage. Qualification will be decided in a best-of-three series, with Game 2 set to take place on Sunday 17/05 at 17:30, at “Nick Galis Hall”.

ARIS Betsson completed its preparation today (13/05) with a midday practice at “Nick Galis Hall”. The team’s head coach had all players available, except young Panagiotis Rafail Lefas, who continues his recovery process due to hip discomfort.

Before practice, the coaching staff analyzed tomorrow’s opponent through video.

The team delegation will depart for Athens by air this afternoon and consists of:

0 Elijah Mitrou-Long

1 Chrysostomos Chatzilamprou

3 Bryce Jones

5 Amine Noua

9 Michalis Tsairelis

10 Jake Forrester

11 Stelios Poulianitis

13 Lefteris Bochoridis

25 Ronnie Harrell

33 Danilo Andjusic

37 Kostas Antetokounmpo

98 Arnoldas Kulboka

Serhat Cetin: “Ready to fight for an important result”

Igor Milicic’s assistant coach, Serhat Cetin, commented on tomorrow’s game:

“It has been almost three weeks since our last official game, so this preparation period was important for us. We tried to use it in the best possible way, to stay focused, keep improving, and prepare ourselves for the playoffs both physically and mentally.

At this stage of the season, every detail matters. We know AEK is a very experienced and high-quality team, and we have a lot of respect for them.

For us, the key is to stay connected, follow our principles, and compete with the right mentality for 40 minutes.

We are excited to start the playoffs and we want to play good basketball, fight, and give ourselves a chance to achieve an important result.”