AEK would have qualified for the Basketball Champions League play-in anyway. This was ensured by Bonn’s sovereign victory over Reggio Emilia. Still, he didn’t want to give up the match against Karsijaka, coming back from -25 and winning 80-72.

There are occasional games that show the character of a team. your psychology. The match with Karsijaka looked like a microcosm of this year’s AEK season: many ups and downs, moments when the players seemed like strangers to each other and others when the “Union” seemed to be from another planet. If the “good” phase comes in the first part of a game, it can cause a breakdown in the second. When it comes to the second half, AEK suddenly turns things upside down like they did against Rezzo Emilia a few weeks earlier, clinching big wins.

From Hell to Heaven and the Five Keys

Against Karsijaka, AEK started the game worse than they could have imagined and in their worst nightmare as the Turks did what they wanted on the floor. However, from the 16th minute and later, from Kenny Williams’ three point, a switch seemed to have flipped.

AEK in the second half was the AEK Elias Kanzouris has in mind. Pressing in defence, winning the ball and creativity in attack. Don’t play one-on-one – that’s not their way, it’s to share the game. Looking for the advantage he found in the person of spaceman Achille Mitchell (25 points, 14 rebounds).

AEK was looking for things. It turned out that the five who would make the difference had to be an organizer (Flionis), two shooters (Williams and Strelnieks, although the latter can also create) and the Mitchell and Madsen duo under the basket. Those five got a +17 mark. When Mitchell and Madsen simply co-existed under the basket – they shared the floor for a total of 14 minutes and 37 seconds – AEK had an overall score of +22!

The step forward, Mitchell and the need for stability

AEK have already made a step up from last year’s season, which was disastrous by every measure. Last year they were eliminated in the group stage with a 1-5 record in an easy group. This year they play in the BCL Play-In, go through a much more difficult group and face Tofas with home advantage (albeit in an empty stadium). This may seem “small” in the eyes of some who have been accustomed in recent years to the “Union” having higher ambitions in the organization, but it is a step forward.

But AEK also needs something else: stability. With the exception of the – sometimes exciting – Mitchell, the “Union” has not consistently gotten from their other players. There are too many ups and downs in defense and offense, nights when some players look like stars and others disappear. Mitchell is the only constant near the basket while McGriffie, Madsen and Miles look like they’re being looked at.

AEK have the American tall as their reference point, but they need multiple players to consistently move forward. It’s one thing to expect a different protagonist every night – because that’s what it’s built on – and another to have nights where some call in and then… disappear. Especially now that the season is entering the second half.

At the end of the day, “Union” already looked like the minimum goal in Europe and made a step forward compared to last year. However, if he wants to go further, he needs stability and consistency from everyone. If that happens then the game against Karsijaka will be remembered as the beginning of better days.