Takianos: “We had to stop the pace of the Colossus”

Fotis Takianos spoke about the death of his friend, Donatos Gorezis, in the attempt to stop the pace that Kolossos had in the first half, the good defense in the second half and the confidence it gave them in the attack, he analyzed the performance of Fridrickson and Harrison and he emphasized that they should die inside the parquet and they did.

Analytically: “After the end of the match, I was informed that a friend and basketball player is no longer with us, Donatos Gorezis. A friend for many years with his own offer in a very sensitive piece. He was always there for us. My sincere condolences. For us he will always be Johnny, who whenever we needed something, he was always there.

Wins and games come and go. What remains in the end is what you erase with your character. Above all, it’s health because the glasses of vanity don’t let us see it.”

On the game: “We knew that Colossus has a free style with quality. If they got into a rhythm they would be very dangerous. Our goal was not to get into that rhythm. At first, we had a problem with Harrison and his waistline. We showed how we should play in the second half. Due to fatigue, the group appears without energy once again.

In the second half, we responded as a team of high level and basketball awareness. We didn’t panic. Our good defensive performance gave us a chance to gain confidence as well. With consecutive good defenses and execution with correct decisions, we managed to overcome the difference. We nominated to be in the top seven spots for the Final 8.

Good defensive performance gave us confidence and pace in attack. We lowered the shape because we had to do something to flip the image. We pressed high, changed our defensive tactics. It was essentially the momentum of our players, they played harder and with more contact.”

On Fridriksson: “After his very good start and his injury with Peristeri, he wasn’t who he wanted himself to be. It relies a lot on speed and the problem on the backs. Today, after a while, he caught his high standards, we gave him the ‘keys’ and he got his rhythm and we are happy for him”.

For Harrison: “It’s not a simple thing. He injected himself to play. We don’t see foreign players doing that. Fredrickson had done the same.”

On what changed at halftime: “We said a lot of things at halftime. Both in terms of tactics and in the fact that the image was unfair to us. When the hands do not go, the heart must go. We said we have to die on the pitch and that’s what we did.”