Yannis Kastritis congratulated the Aris players for the effort they made against a Euroleague level team, he spoke about the absences and the fact that they gave 100% against a great opponent, he praised the team’s friends for the atmosphere they created for him, he believes that the final difference is a “springboard” for something better this season, it awaits the arrival of a player in the next few days and at the same time that the long shots will be included in the next match.
In detail: “I first want to congratulate my players. The final score shows the great effort we put in throughout the game. Also, if we compare the final score with the overall average that Valencia scores, we will understand how well we played defense today. We knew we had to face a EuroLeague level team with an excellent coach and a very good roster. We also knew that we had to deal with the players’ absences.
We wanted to give 100% in every phase of the match and that’s exactly what we did. I am proud of my players and I told them that in the dressing room. If we all stick together, work hard in every practice and fight in every game, we will get what we deserve. I know this team deserves a lot. I also want to congratulate our fans for the amazing atmosphere they created in yet another game.”
On whether there remains a disappointment for the final score: “Sure, it can remain and it’s one of the “ah”s that hurt you and possibly you go home and think about it for days. But it also acts as ‘fertilizer’ for the rest of the season. Consistency in effort is important. Even if they feel that today we got close, under no circumstances should we go home happy. We are proud of the effort, happy, but not.
On the contrary, we must turn it into anger and motivation and prepare for the next games, starting with this one against Maroussi on Saturday, which we must be ready and win in any way.”
On whether there is a possibility of acquiring a new player during the week: “We are trying from the first moment to bring a player as quickly as possible. At the moment there is nothing to finish, but there are several open fronts even now, in the middle of the night, there may be some development that will move us forward. It is our wish to have the new player as soon as possible.
You saw that today some guys really played for a very long time. In any case, whoever comes to the team will come to help the already existing situation. He won’t be helpful, but we believe very much in the guys we have, in our work and in our system. Even if someone comes tomorrow it is not easy to compete without training. So, we have to have faith in the daily process, to do our best on Saturday either with or without a new player.
Whoever comes, may they come quickly and slowly join. We are not a team that brings someone in and makes him play for 30 minutes, we are not looking for heroes, nor for saviors. Every new player has to get to know the team, the way we play, the two sides of the pitch and integrate over time.”
On how much the acquisition of the new player will help the team reach the competitive image they want: “It will help us a lot. At this moment we need quantity. The games are back to back, we’re already pushing hard. It seems that the children believe in what we stand for and have assimilated what we have to do. From here on, the new player will definitely help us a lot quantitatively because the games are continuous and natural, and with his quality. Whoever it is, it will be a quality player, it will add to the already very good squad we have.
Nolley will also return who is also a significant loss for us. It’s a long season, we’ve been through it before and we know that a lot is decided in December and January. Then we want to be as good as possible and, of course, to have won as many as we can by then.”
On what makes him optimistic that the next few shots will go in: “The same reason they went in last time. We have won several games where we have put the shots. I’m not optimistic that they’ll get in, but I’m not pessimistic either, I don’t think so. The important thing is that the team plays correctly and creates the conditions for the players to perform correctly. Today, the boys created several ‘open’ shots, let’s not forget that we played with a very limited rotation and with a huge investment of soul in defense.
I think the only normal thing is that several of our players, especially those who played more than 28′, are tired and this often costs accuracy. But, it’s part of the game, I don’t think we should even think about that. We always play with a lot of confidence, we have as a rule that the good shots we have to take them all and the guys did that.
If there was anything that troubled us it would be the high number of offensive rebounds Valencia got or the mistakes we made. With such pieces we deal more and try to improve. It would trouble us if someone was on their own and they didn’t pass the ball to them to execute. From the moment the shots come out and are free, we continue with the same confidence and we have a lot of faith in the kids.”
Source: Sport Fm
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