On the eve of Aris’s match against Croatian side Zadar, for the Game 5 of the Eurocup regular season, Fotis Katsikaris expressed his optimism that his team will be able to get the victory and qualify to the Top 16 of the tournament.
“It’s a crucial game for us. We play at home and we wish to take advantage of it, so that we can get qualified already, thanks to our away victory in Croatia, in the beginning of the group stage. If we show consistency and concentration, I think that we will make it, even if it will be difficult. I hope that your fans stand by our side once more and that we can celebrate along with them an important victory”, mr. Katsikaris said, while he also noted the recent change of the ambient for the better: “Our last match, in Larissa, has left a sweet taste. Not only because of the wide score difference, but also because of the morale and the mentality shown by the team throughout the whole event: In the dressing room, on court, on the bus while returning to Thessaloniki, in everything. The mentality has changed for the better and we are optimistic that we will have a correct performance against Zadar, too”.
Regarding the Croatians, Aris’s head coach stated the following: “For them, the game will be something like a final, because they can’t afford to lose. It’s their last chance to go for the qualification. This will make it more difficult for us, as Zadar is a very fast and very tough team. Nevertheless, it’s in our hands to start well and get what we want”.
Mr. Katsikaris spoke in detail about all that he expects to see his players do on court: “Just as we did in Croatia, we will aim to play well on Stipcevic, who is the key player for Zadar, as he is a playmaker who likes to score a lot. Also, we must take care of Ruzic, a center forward who can shoot well, too. In the first match against them, we had managed to control them effectively and we will try to repeat this. Boisa might be Zadar’s best player, based in performance and statistics, but if we cut down Stipcevic and Ruzic I think that we will be OK. Plus, we must pay attention to Rancic, Car and Downes’s long-distance shots. And, of course, controlling the rebounds will be a very important factor”.
When asked about the possible debut of Serb newcomers Paunic and Labovic, the 42-year-old coach explained that “I wish that I don’t have to put them into the game at all. It won’t be an easy thing for them to learn our offensive tactics and our defensive plans. We will see what happens, according to the evolution of the game”.
Given this opportunity, mr. Katsikaris praised once more the skills of the two new faces on his team’s roster: “Paunic is a terrific defensive ‘weapon’ and I believe that he could play for any top-flight club in Europe. He has got tremendous energy and strength and he fills in perfectly to our team, because he can play ‘one on one’ and drive up to the basket, a thing that the rest of our perimeter players don’t have so much. As for his defensive skills, he can easily play in three different positions. Labovic, on the other hand, will ‘open up’ our offensive game with his smartness. He lacks speed but he covers up for that with his brightness, his good long-distance shot and his high ability on the low post. Overall, we are talking about two young guys, who are really motivated and ready to do anything for the team”.
Jeremy Richardson also spoke about tomorrow’s game and said that “...we want to get the job done and we will do anything to get the victory and the qualification to the next round. I don’t think that this game will be a whole lot different than the one we played against them in Croatia, because most of the players in our team have been the same. We will try to be focused, in order to win them again”.
Concerning his good performance on last Saturday’s game, the American forward quoted: “In the beginning of the season I need some time for adjustment, but now I feel more comfortable. My teammates have learnt they way I play and I have learnt the way they do it. We have been improving as a team, too. Maybe we haven’t got as many wins as we should have, because in some games we couldn’t sustain the score difference until the end, but we have been getting better as a team”.
Richardson was also asked about his top-scorer status in Larissa, in game which was the first in the post-Dixon era: “When there is a player missing, obviously you have to play as a team, in scoring and in creating. We played together, as a true team, so that we could make up for the missing guys”.
