Building the kind of team he has in mind will take time, Aris coach David Blatt said at the Press Conference after the defeat to Maroussi (75-67) for Game 13 of the Hellenic Championships 2009-2010.
“Maroussi play consistently well all year, so it isn’t a surprise to see this game from them. We simply needed to play a lot better than we did to beat them, because they play well, they know what they do and they have done it again and again this season. By the time we figured out what to do, it was a bit too late. Maroussi is the kind of team that doesn’t let you come from far behind, especially in this gym”, mr. Blatt said and added:
“On the way over here, I saw the original Olympic Stadium of Athens and I’m sure that it wasn’t built in one week. I’ve been here for a week and obviously I have a lot more building to do, therefore I’m not going to put more emphasis on this game, as I did after the victory against Olympiacos, as well. We are on the process to get better. In the second part season we’ll get better, because we have good team. I wish good luck to Maroussi in the Euroleague Top 16”.
The American-Israeli coach also commented on the possibility of bringing in new players, when he was asked about it: “Changing players in the middle of the season has an effect on the team, which is not always good. If anything, I would say that we have too many players. Honestly, I think that having another player wouldn’t make the difference tonight. It was they way we played what made the difference. If we bring someone special we will try to bring him here, but it’s not the first thing on my mind. I’m not an excuse maker. This team is good enough to win games, as we did against Olympiacos, no matter of one player more or one player less”.
Michalis Kakiouzisalso spoke about the game: “Our position in the standings isn’t what we would have expected and wished, but we will do anything in order to improve it in the second round of the championships. If we are focused, as we did in the second half tonight and in the game against Olympiacos, things will get better for us. During the last week we have shown some positive signs, we have good players in the team and we can go forward. Now we will think about the game in Badalona. We will try to be serious and play strong, in order to get the victory. Congratulations to Maroussi and good luck in the Euroleague Top 16. I wish that all Greek clubs go as far as possible in the European competitions”.
On the other hand, Maroussi coach Giorgos Bartzokas recognized the special value of Aris as a club: “Every time we play against Aris, we realize how big club this is. We even see it in the Press Conference, where Aris is always on the spotlight, regardless of the game result. This thing makes even more important our victory against such a big team. Aris has gained depth in the bench thanks to the recovery of Barlos and the addition of Paunic. They had scored 93 against Olympiacos and that boosted them, but we managed to stop them. We focused on defense, as we always do. Pelekanos was great on Richardson, who had scored 30 on Wednesday but tonight didn’t score at all. We have good players on the bench and that’s the secret for our consistency”.
Pat Kalathes, who spoke on behalf of Maroussi players, quoted that “coming here tonight, we knew that it would be a tough game for us. Aris is a great team and was coming from a big win against Olympiacos. I think that tonight we did our best game this season. We were very good in defense and in attack. We must congratulate the assistant coaches of the team for their good job ahead of this game”.
