The victory was all that mattered for Aris against Kavala and that’s what interim coach Dimitris Priftis highlighted at the Press Conference, adding that he will have the opportunity to learn a lot as David Blatt’s assistant from now on.
The Press Conference:
Dimitris Priftis (interim Aris coach): “Mr. Alexandris is a person whom I deeply respect and appreciate. It’s a great honor to hear him praise me and I’m thankful for this. We had a very good collaboration in A.E.K.. Regarding the game, I must say that we were coming from a a very turbulent week, which affected all of us. We had to put aside our feelings and our thoughts, in order to get the victory. In the first half we had this psychological problem once more and our percentage in offense was too low. However, in the third quarter we got better, we took a deep breath regarding our morale and we finished off the game having a consistent lead. Once we got the victory, this was a good night for us, even though we didn’t have a high quality performance.
It’s an honor for me to serve Aris, which is a great team with a big tradition. Since I have the opportunity to carry on working here, I will do so. There is much for me to learn and to gain as mr. Blatt assistant. He is a renowned coach and I will help in any field I am asked to. Before the game, we talked much with mr. Blatt. He attended yesterday’s practice and today’s video projection. Also, he came to the dressing room before the start of the game and in half-time, too. He advised us on some things and he definitely helped us”.
Christos Papanikolaou (Aris player): “It was a peculiar game for us, after our coach’s departure. We won relatively easily, although we didn’t play really well. We keep the victory out of this game and we hope that our new coach’s arrival will help us turn things around, because we should be higher in the standings of the Hellenic Championships. It’s not usual to see a coach leave his club this way, but the arrival of mr. Blatt will definitely change our morale. We players have good relations among us and hopefully we will be better from now on”.
Vaggelis Alexandris (Kavala coach): “I’m very glad that my ex assistant in A.E.K., Dimitris Priftis, is sitting by my side tonight. He is a young coach who’s really talented and he will make his way in the top division.
Aris deserved to win. We wanted to play better than in our previous games and although we showed signs of improvement on some elements, you have to be very good in all aspects if you wish to win Aris in Thessaloniki. We were too weak in the paint and let Aris get 14 offenseive rebounds. Also, we made too many mistakes, 15, many of which were stupid, easy mistakes. In addition, our percentage in 2-pointers was appropriate only for a team of beginners. Just 7 out of 25 shots went in”.
Dragan Ceranic (Kavala player): “For us, this game was a chance to change out mentality and be more aggressive in defense. We had some good moments, but we let Aris score too many easy points, especially during the third quarter. Aris got a 10-point lead and kept it until the end, despite our effort to change things”.
