Kanzouris: “I’m proud of my players and how they fought”

AEK battled it out but ultimately buckled against Malaga, ultimately losing 65-75 and now turning their attention to the BCL quarterfinals, where they won’t have home field advantage.

After the end of the match, Elias Kanzouris stressed that he feels proud of his players and the way they fought against the Spanish Cup winners, added that there is always room for improvement, while also referring to his team’s many missed three-pointers, but also the significant absence of Janis Strelnieks.

What the AEK coach said in detail:



“I am proud of my players. About how they fought. It’s never easy, losing such important pieces of your team and being able to adapt in such a few days. Certainly when you have to play against such a good team. We know very well what they have achieved this year already, so for us there are only good feelings. Now we have to regroup. Let’s try to see how we can get better. Let’s find a little better rhythm. I hope Kenny (s.s. Williams) comes back as soon as possible. To work and find the chemistry we had. It won’t be easy, but we are ready to work and fight”.

On whether the match was decided by AEK’s many missed shots from the perimeter: “For me it’s always the little things, the little details, that can really make a difference. On one hand you can say that maybe with 3/19 3-pointers you have no hope of winning the game, but on the other hand I say that even with 14 offensive rebounds by Malaga, it is very difficult to win a game. Especially when you lose all the rebounds, after good defenses you made. These give a very good team a chance to have another shot. So I think it’s a combination. It’s all about which side you look at the coin. It’s the little details I’ve said. I think we gave it our all on the floor. Maybe sometimes this is not enough, because the opponents are also playing and we are now looking forward to the continuation of the BCL”.

On the absence of Strelnieks and how he can be covered: “I think that’s what we’re here for. This is our job. We have to find a way. It is a given that this is a significant loss. I don’t need to talk about Giannis and how important he is to our team, but beyond that, good teams have to find solutions. I don’t think that the function of a team can only be about one player. It’s all about how the team works and operates, so I would tell you that what we need now in a short period of time, is to find our chemistry again, even though in the previous weeks, we had it at a pretty good level, not to mention high. Now we have to find her again under different circumstances. To improve how we operate in attack, but also in defence, because there is always room to improve and we will have to change maybe and adjust some other things. There is nothing else. We have to find a way.”

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