Kanzouris: “What we achieved in the BCL is very big, we should be proud”

After its victory over Galatasaray in the closed Ano Liosion, AEK celebrated the qualification to the “8” of this year’s Basketball Champions League, while next Tuesday (21/3, 19:30) it will give… a first home final against Malaga.

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Union coach, Elias Kanzourisspoke to the EEC web radio about his team’s progress so far, describing the qualification to the BCL quarter-finals as very great, while he also mentioned his ambitions for the rest of the season.

What the AEK coach said in detail:



For the victory against Galatasaray and the qualification to the “8” of the BCL: “It was a huge victory, another in the series of what we have achieved in the tournament. Galatasaray is a very quality team and we saw it in the 1st half where they played with incredible percentages, which definitely had to do with our own defensive approach which was not ideal at the start of the match. If we look at the groups we’ve been in, the opponents, the conditions, the budgets and the difficulties, I think it’s something very big that we’ve achieved and we should be proud. However, our joy has been tempered a little, because we had two losses yesterday (15/03) in the evening (s.s. Strelnieks, Williams). We are waiting to see what the extent of these injuries is and from there we will see the next day in the BCL and the Greek league”.

On whether the atmosphere was charged by the death of Mimi Papaioannou: “We are talking about the most pure and romantic eras of Greek sports, where players-“symbols” were accepted by the fans of all teams. We are certainly talking about a man who became a legend for the AEK team, the legacy he left behind is huge. May the soil that will cover him be light and may his family remember him.

It is a given that hearing such news brings to mind some of the achievements with which this particular man associated his name with the AEK team. Since most of our players are foreigners, they don’t know who he is, but many of the team members know the importance of Mimi. Everyone who can remember and feel the magnitude of the loss, it is a given that it “touched” them, combined with the fact that the AEK anthem was played from the stadium’s matrix with Mr. Papaioannou singing it and the whole stadium following . It was really a very emotional moment and only those who were on the pitch can understand what I am describing right now.”.

For the upcoming (21/03) European game with Malaga: “I don’t need to say how big Málaga is, they beat Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and won the Spanish Cup. We have yet to face a very difficult opponent. The first thing that concerns me is to measure ourselves, see how many of us are healthy, put them down and from there we go play another game, give it our all and see what we can achieve within the four lines”.

On AEK’s ambitions for the rest of the season: “I don’t think we can look away. The philosophy of the team is to look at each game individually, regardless of whether it is about the BCL or the Greek league. Certainly our European year has a very sweet ‘taste’ so far. Watching the team in the last few weeks I started to feel that we can really do something special, but injuries are also in our lives and we have to deal with it and see what we can do best for the team in the future.”.

For Pierre Oriola: “We are talking about a player of known value, he did not come here to show his credentials. He was the captain of Barcelona and that “speaks” for itself. Certainly athletically, he still needs some time to be in the ideal situation, but with his personality, his character and the way he works on the field and in the locker room, he is already very valuable to our team. The mentality he “carries” and his personality already make him special in our team. He always puts himself below the group interest and that makes him valuable”.