Zouros: “AEK is a great team, it must return and it will return”

Confident that AEK Betsson will return to the awards, said o Ilias Zouros after his team’s quarterfinal loss (79-72) to Panathinaikos AKTOR.

At the same time, the “Union” coach congratulated his players for the great effort they made, while also thanking the friends of the “yellow and black” for their tremendous presence at the “Two Aorakis”.

In detail, Ilias Zouros spoke about:

-the match: “Congratulations to my players and staff. A great effort was made by everyone to find the team today ready for a knockout game, very important for us. For a long time we played well, but we need to fix some details that make the difference. I believe in the players and our team. Through misfortunes we will become stronger and move forward. We thank the fans of AEK who support us in all the games. I’m sure we’ll make them proud soon. Our team will be strong again. I hope that in the future there will be fans with badges and everyone together on the field».

-the continuation: “We move forward step by step, we make mistakes but we correct ourselves. We emphasize defense, we are improving. The reintegration of Kuzminskas is important. The management did the right planning but there were surprises with injuries and player departures. Morgan had a problem and fought the child to help us, while Hatzidakis was not with us for medical reasons. I believe in the team, the children, the family. If we are a family we will move on. AEK is a great team, it must return and it will return”.

– Agravanis: “Agravanis is a very important player, a good boy who fights for the team. He had an injury, he came back a little faster, but he gives his soul. He needs to get his body back first to give the team what he can give. But it is not right to talk about individuals. The team plays, the team wins, the team loses. We have to play a little better defense. Today we missed some rebounds and some turnovers. I believe in the team and our players, as long as we are healthy».

From the side of Mindaugas Kuzminskas stated: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos, they deserved the win. I am quite happy for my team, because we fought despite our absences. Sometimes you will win, sometimes you will lose, but the point is to fight. This season we didn’t have some results we wanted for various reasons. Today I think we took a step forward and now in the break we can work to have a better taste after the break.

It’s easy to support the team when everything is going well, but the most important thing is if you’re there for them in the difficult times. That’s why I’m grateful to our fans, I hope they continue to support us and I hope after the break we’ll show a different face. Personally, I’m happy to be back. It’s nice to play, it’s a nice feeling. I missed basketball. I didn’t know how I would be and how my hand would react, but luckily everything was fine and the only thing missing was the win».