Elite League: The four Final 4 are ready to play in the Basket League

The news that came out of the press conference about the Final 4 of the Elite League Errikos Dunan, which will take place this weekend at the AEK stadium in Liosia, is that all the teams, Psychiko, Triton, Maroussi and Panerythraikos, have declared if not ready, determined to do whatever it takes to play in the Basket League. At the same time, the EEC administration announced some changes, not only in this category, but also in the rest of the national championships.

Evangelos Liolios (President of EEC): “It’s the last act, the climax, with a Final 4 happening for the first time. Elite League Henry Dunan took steps forward. It was an exciting league, any team could win every game and several Greek players found an essential role. It is the first step to go to the next one, to strengthen the role of the Elite League Henricos Dunan and to develop the rest of the national categories, men’s and women’s. I must thank our sponsor, Errikos Dunan, who trusted us and was satisfied with the course of the championship. I also want to thank the managements of the teams, because we had a perfect collaboration, they completely understood what we want to do and we proceeded with minimal disagreements. The spirit of cooperation was reflected on the playing fields. I want to thank the players and coaches, who are protagonists. We are the accomplices, who make the frame. This is how we must operate collectively. The message of unity was also seen in the response of the fans. We will keep the successful practices and within the next ten days we will announce how we will improve the rest of the national and development championships. I wish all the teams the best of luck. Two of the four will get promotion, the semi-finals will be very important and on Sunday the minor and major finals will give the beauty and reward of a whole year.”

Regarding whether there is a thought of not transferring the results of the regular season to the playoffs, he said: “It is important to see the pathologies of an application, in order to go to something better. Experience has shown us that we need to make changes to some system, but this will be done after a dialogue with the teams after the completion of the championships”.

Nikos Nikolopoulos (EEC General Secretary): “I want to congratulate the four teams for their qualification to the Final 4, but also the other teams who, with their own contribution, confirmed the name of the category. Next year, with small interventions, the championship will become even more attractive for the fans who embraced it this year. I wish health and all the best to the teams and to both winners to find themselves deservedly in the professional category.”

Tasos Delimbaltadakis (Member of the EEC Board of Directors, Head of Elite League Errikos Dunan): “I have been following A2, which is now called Elite League, for many years. We have to provide a special basis for it to become the best league in Greece. As management we have made some changes to make the league exciting and with the new additions it will be even better. We are talking to the teams and trying to find the gaps, so that next year’s championship will be even more interesting. The goal is that those who participate in the league are not neglected, but want to participate in it. I believe that in two years we will have achieved this, so that the whole world will be involved with the Elite League, Erricos Dunan. We are well on our way to making all the games interesting and not just the semi-finals. I wish good luck to all the teams and that the two best move up to the professional category.”

Regarding whether there is a thought of not transferring the results of the regular season to the playoffs, he said: “This year there will be a way of conducting the championship that no one will be able to calculate where it will finish. The championship will be so, that no one will be able to make a cunning thought. We will have a meeting with the teams on Tuesday and you will be informed immediately after that.”

Nikos Kollias (Director of Marketing and Communication Errikos Dunan): “It is our pleasure to be in this celebration of basketball. We want to thank all 16 teams for a competitive championship and wish the four teams in the Final 4 the best of luck. At least 50 young lads played an active role in their teams and I want to congratulate the teams and coaches. This hope makes us proud as a sponsor and as a sixth player that we will always be by their side.”

Giorgos Remendelas (Psychikos Coach): “Since last year we were not able to play in the Basket League, because there was little time to organize the team to play in a healthy way in the division, we decided with the administration to make a new effort, with more organization, to support as appropriate this course. Carrying the weight of last year’s rise and not being able to support it adds a greater difficulty. I hope we win the semi-final and be rewarded for our efforts. Last year promotion was not the ultimate goal, this year the team is ready to support possible promotion to the Basket League.”

Nikos Papanikolaou (Head of Psychiko): “Congratulations to the federation for the entire championship. It was a very competitive league and I hope with the changes that will be made it will be even better. I would definitely like to close out my career playing in the Basket League one more time, for my kids to see me play at the highest level. But first we have to win it on the field. I wish health and good success to all teams. May the best man win. There is impatience, let’s be a little lucky to feel a little… Sloukas and Vezenkov. Let’s all enjoy it, let’s be healthy and I hope that other children will experience all this”.

Michalis Michelakos (Coach of Triton): “It is our pleasure to be here, it is a great honor for the Triton organization to take part in this first Final 4. The anticipation is high, it has been quite a hard season for us and we feel that our efforts are being rewarded. May the best man win, as our sport is fair. May there be four very beautiful games. Team management is in the process of finding resources. The data is very different, in terms of guarantees and financial data. We, coaches and players, are fighting for this part and we want to believe that if we manage to win the semi-final, the administration will take the necessary actions to play in the Basket League”.

Michalis Kamberidis (Head of Triton): “Congratulations to the federation for an exciting and very competitive championship. It’s a great feeling to claim and win promotion. You need the whole year to have put your heart and soul in order to succeed. It is very nice to be with the team you were in the Elite League, Errikos Dunan in the Basket League. We are all looking forward to Saturday to see which two teams will get promoted. The moments of these very big races are few for an athlete, so you have to live it as intensely as possible. It is something very special, which you may not experience again. We all think to give our best.”

Giorgos Skarafigas (Coach of Amarousiou): “I want to congratulate all four teams who got here and I think they are capable and worthy. It was very impressive that all the pitches were full and this was the culmination of the great effort put in by EEC and the teams. I think the continuation will be much better in the Final 4. A game like this, like the semi-final, is very important. We and Panerythraikos were outsiders for promotion from the beginning of the year, because we had work as our weapon and not big budgets. That’s why we will enjoy it more. The image is there, the desire to play in the Basket League is there, from there on, the answer is on Saturday night.”

Pavlos Xydas (Chief of Amarousiou): “Congratulations to the federation and to those who participated for the very competitive championship. We players didn’t expect it like that either. We from the 3rd National Team wanted to bring the team back to where it has made history. That was the dream, but there’s a long way to go to claim it. In a match everyone can beat everyone. We are very satisfied, all the guys in the team have worked hard and with the right steps I think the level can rise even more. It’s a special feeling to play such an important game. These are the matches that feed the souls of all players, they are what you live for and you want to play, stress or not. When the foundations are good within the team, you can make a difference even in defeat.”

Dimitris Houchoulis (Panerythraikos Coach): “Congratulations to the federation, I think that this year there were no steps, but a leap forward. In previous years we were experiencing the same thing, now we are seeing innovative things that have increased the interest of the basketball world and I appreciate that. I want to congratulate the teams that reached this first Final 4, but also the other 12 teams that made the championship so competitive and that we four got to be in the spotlight today. I hope all this will grow even more in the coming years. Eritrea has a specific plan, I am 23 years in the team, every year we tried for the best, we never gave up and in recent years we have entered a process, with the management’s willingness, to invest in the development part. Today we got here by sticking to the plan, without actions like bringing in a foreign player to increase our momentum. It was not in our mind to challenge for promotion, but the team is ready, has studied, has costed and we will be ready, if we succeed, to play in the Basket League. If we succeed, from Sunday morning the team enters the implementation phase of participation in the Basket League”.

Tasos Kallianiotis (Head of Panerythraikos): “All teams deserve congratulations. My teammates are more my kids’ age than mine. Our team is already successful, the goal was for new kids to play and star. Qualifying for the playoffs was already a success, we are now in the Final 4 and we have torn our sky apart. If by chance we manage to reach the Basket League team, it will be a feat that will go down in club history. We think about a big match even a week before, it’s something special and we have to experience it intensely. These feelings are rare and we are very lucky to play such a game.”