What the four coaches say about the Final 4 of the Elite League Errikos Dunan

A few hours, now, before the Final 4 of the Elite League Errikos Dunan, the four team coaches open their cards. Dionysis Angelou of Herakles and Nikos Oikonomou of Ermis Schimatari, who face each other on Friday (17:00) in the first match at the Ano Liosion Olympic Center, as well as Aris Lykogiannis of Panioni and Michalis Kouris of Milos, who face each other in the second match of the day (20:00), they talk about the celebration that ends the season and will decide the champion, but also the runner-up team that will secure promotion.

Dionysis Angelou (coach Iraklis): “The preparation became more and more intense as we got closer to the Final 4. The positive for us is that we are the last team to qualify, so I think we have the best pace of the four teams. We come from a very difficult series against a very quality team like Megarida. We made a great effort, got four wins and managed to be in the Final 4. The important thing is to be mentally ready. Geromichalos is key, if we can limit him on Friday we will have taken a good step towards victory. Hercules is always under pressure to return to the big league, where he belongs. We want to give the world a good time and get back into the Basket League. I think that all the games will be ambiguous, all the teams are very good and I think that not only the best teams made it to the top four, but also the most formed ones. Because I happened to experience last year as an assistant as well, the league this year was even more competitive and the two foreigners helped, as did the presence of very experienced players and coaches with tenure in the Basket League. I believe that as time goes by Elite League Henry Dunan will get better and better. I wish the best teams to win and reach the big goal, which is promotion.”

Nikos Oikonomou (coach Hermis Schimatariou): “It’s time for the Final 4, even though we’ve been waiting for several days after a very competitive championship. The first teams to qualify, Panionios and Milonas, waited even longer. I believe we will be ready to show as competitive a face as possible in the first game. When you claim something, you have the right to dream. For us it is a dream that I did not expect to come this year. It’s like we’ve won a little league. The children are impatient, the waiting period is long. They won it with their sword, as did all the teams. We don’t have the brand name of other Final 4 teams, but we’ve made a very worthwhile effort. I’ve been to three Final 4s as a player and you’ve got to have the composure to pull through. I am happy for the children and what they have achieved. It doesn’t matter what happened before in the regular season, this is a match against Herakles with a completely different mentality. The favorite is Herakles, we have great respect for the opponent. The two teams changed a lot during the season. I wish good luck to all the teams, may the field be full and may the best man win. It will be a beautiful experience for everyone.”

Aris Lykogiannis (coach of Panioni): “We have waited a long time for the Final 4, we have entered the last days of preparation and we will be ready. There is definitely pressure, because the goal of Panioni was promotion from the beginning. However, I believe that we have the experience and the quality to manage this situation mentally and to present ourselves properly. We have reached the end of the road now, we have the Final 4 in front of us and I believe that we will meet the expectations that exist and we will achieve our goal, which is promotion to the Basket League. There is the peculiarity of our pair with Milos that the two teams come from the same district of Athens, but it does not play any role. We are very happy that Fanis Christodoulou has been activated since last year, he is by our side, he helps the team a lot and he certainly wants to see Panionios again in the big division. I think we have served the plan well so far, we were more than 3/4 of the season in first place, despite the difficulties and injuries. Now we are looking forward to the Final 4. I hope it will be a good tournament, with beautiful games and spectacle and that the best teams will prevail.”

Michalis Kouris (Milon coach): “We are happy to have reached the Final 4, we have reached the final stage and we are looking forward to the games now. Zac Bryant coming in raised our quality quite a bit and with the arrival of Gaios Skordilis our aspirations rose and we reached the point of claiming promotion. The break from the playoffs until the Final 4 was a long time, I think we will be ready to present the image we want. It no longer counts what you’ve done all year, it’s a matter of day and luck. The stadium we will play is completely different from what we are used to, it is a big stadium and we hope it will have a very good atmosphere. I hope that the closed one will be filled and we will see good basketball in these three games.”