Zeljko Obradovic talked of a mature game, pressure in defense but also alerted all of the fact that the upcoming game across from the same opponent, but this time for the Greek Cup although again at the OAKA arena will be an entirely different encounter.
“I think we played maturely from minute one. We enforced pressure in defense and tried to run the open field. Hence we had the opportunity to score a few easy baskets. After a hard game in Euroleague, as the clash against Olimpija on Thursday last determined in OT, my players illustrated character and deserve congratulations. It is not an easy venture to collect their selves after less than 48 hours and after such a matchup. Everyone scored. Great basketball was played; it was full of show-time moments, a fiesta. I am certain that the game for the Greek Cup will be far more difficult and totally different. We are obligated then to show them the according respect”.
Romain Sato stated: “We knew that Aris is a great team and we had prepared accordingly. We were prepared to step out on the court and play hard, especially in defense. We had to unravel strength and bring out energy. That’s what we did. We knew we had absences. Mike Batiste and Aleks Maric are sidelined and that was why we had to keep our concentration. There are still many games ahead of us and we must play even harder to fill in the voids”.
Aris Head Coach, Sharon Drucker noted: “It was a difficult evening for us. Panathinaikos played hard from minute one. We were not aggressive from the beginning. Panathinaikos certainly has more refined quality than us but we should have reacted better. Only in the end did we perform the game we should have. This defeat wounded us but we must not forget whom we were playing against. Panathinaikos is for sure a better team than us. It just that, even when we are losing we can try to compete better”
Dejan Borovnjak stressed: “Panathinaikos gave samples of what it is capable of doing. We did not bring out much energy and showed nothing of what we can perform on the floor, especially at the start. We focus on what lies ahead and we want to correct our mistakes”.
