Argyris Pedoulakis was happy for the first time of the season. Panathinaikos celebrated at Herakleio the trophy number 55 in its history and the coach of the team spoke about it at the press conference.
"We are happy we had the chance to celebrate the first title of the season. This is why teams work every day: To celebrate titles! In the first half our focus wasn't the proper one, especially in defense. It was somehow justified since it was our fourth game in nine days. For us it was important not to have another injury after losing James Gist. In the second half we tried to "cut" Aris' passing game. Through defense we found our rhythm. We have more quality and depth as a team. During the second half it was rather easy for us. Congratulations to Aris for its choice to move on in the season with young Greek players. We want to dedicate our title to our fans and especially to one kid, Stathis, who fought for his life. There is a big difference between fighting for something and playing".
Pedoulakis condemned all forms of violence: "A new effort begins with this final. If it's good or bad will be judged in time. The bigger issue is to help. The model we had so far was problematic. In this new attempt we have to stay positive. Any form of violence whether it's with words or actions must be condemned. We have all contributed in what is happening, we have young kids we cannot find a job, young kids who have different kind of problems. We have to stay positive in this new beginning. It's the first time the final is played in this form. We have to see what went wrong, but also what was right. This problem doesn't concern basketball, but the Greek society as a whole".
When asked about the young players who played in the final he answered: "Charalampopoulos is 17 years old and he plays in a mature way. It's important that in a daily basis he faces more experienced players and he understands what he does wrong. Aris has a lot of talented kids, but to mention some of them, is not going to help. The most important for them is to keep working and to avoid the star system".
Ramel Curry was the MVP of the final: "It was a good game for us. It's always good to win something. We try every day in the practice for this and when we achieve our goal is something really important. Our defense in the second half changed everything. In the first half Aris was strong, they built their confidence and got the game to a tie. We knew that we had to change our pace and we did it through defense. I am happy about the MVP title, but any of my teammates could have got it. For me it was a good night in offense".
Milan Minic (Aris, Coach) stated: "Congratulations to Panathinaikos for the win and the way they performed. It's a very talented team and I wish them the best in Euroleague. I want to congratulate the fans of Aris who were next to us today. They are next to us in every game. Congratulations to the fans of Panathinaikos too. Whoever got involved in actions that have nothing to do with sports, are not basketball fans. We were strong opponents for 20 minutes for Panathinaikos. We had energy and passion. In the first half our opponents made just 4 points through offensive rebounds. Something that shows we did an excellent job on defensive rebounds. We played according to our plan, Panathinaikos didn't score through fastbreaks, while they had 10 in the second half. In the second half we didn't follow the plan especially in the way we faced pick n roll. They got open shots, they made them and they got rhythm through defense. The first half goes to my players. The second to me! We didn't play with energy in the second half. Panathinaikos is a great team with a lot of talent. We came here hoping to be competitive and we did it for 20 minutes. They scored three pointers back to back in the second half while playing tough in defense at the same time. We didn't have the experience to react. Experience makes the difference in games like this".
