Zeljko Obradovic congratulated his players for the victory and qualification, but for the second consecutive season did not beat around the bush referring to some of them.
₺Congratulations to the players for the victory, for taking the series to 2-0, and for qualifying to the semifinals. We prepared very seriously by all together analyzing the first game, where Aris was very good, especially in the first half. I also want to congratulate Mr. Alexandris for the work and devotion he has shown to Aris. Under these circumstances a coach’s work is very important. He played using new young players and deserves to be congratulated about that too. As far as we are concerned, some players must play much better. As a team, we need to get to a far better level than we are right now. It is obvious that some players are excited to play and others are not.₺
Stratos Perperoglou, who ‘attended’ the press conference, underlined: ₺Our goal coming here was to make the series 2-0. In the first half we were not performing with much team spirit, something that we changed in the second half and thus reached an easy victory. We continue our preparation for the difficult games ahead.₺
Vangelis Alexandris stated: ₺We wanted this season to end up differently, but did not manage to achieve this. I was not pleased by today’s game, while Panathinaikos was amazing. We wanted a performance respective to the one we had in Athens before our fans who honored us with their attendance. We did not succeed in making it. We wanted to try to the extent that our opponents would allow it too. Panathinaikos was good, but we were not as good as we should have been. I would like to thank my collaborators, the players who underwent a lot of pressure against all odds. We had good relations between us and this is what kept us hanging on. Had James not left, I think we would have had a better course, but he did and it was a move that forced us to change everything. I would like to wish Panathinaikos the best of success in Constantinople. I am one of those that have high hopes of their presence there. They have the experience and as far as tactics is concerned they will prevail over the rest. I wholeheartedly hope they make it. We hear that the Giannakopoulos family will step down. I do not know what will happen. If this is true, I would like to say that Mr. Obradovic has offered a lot by being in Greek basketball and I will be glad to see him stay in Greece.₺
Christos Tapoutos stated: ₺The season has come to an end sooner than we would have wanted it to. Unfortunate outcomes did not allow us to cross paths with a more manageable opponent in order to possibly precede more. It was a very difficult season with quite a few problems. However, this season the team was a team in every sense of the term, and this is what kept us hanging in there. There was a good climate and our coach too helped us in that. I hope that Monday becomes a Holy Monday for us and that it becomes the beginning of building an Aris such as we all want it to be; an Aris that claims titles and reaches as high as it should. A lot must change. There are a lot of debts, not just to me, but to many players. I hope that those who will take over get down to the gist of things and do everything they need to do in order to restore Aris to a high stature. The biggest problem this season was the huge financial and administrative issues. It was impossible for the team to remain unaffected. I personally proceeded to demand a payment order because I could no longer take the leg-pulling throughout the season. Besides being Aris, I have to think that I have a family and standing obligations in my life. ₺
