Kastritis: “Ioannidis has associated his name with the days of the Empire, the ceiling of this year’s Mars is very high”

Aris struggled for three quarters against Gran Canaria, but relented in the final half and began his EuroCup duties on the left, aiming to return to European competition after five years. Giannis Kastritis, in his statements after the end of the game, of course referred to the loss of Giannis Ioannidis, while emphasizing that this year’s ceiling for the yellow-black team is very high.

In detail what the Greek technician said: “It is a day of sadness and mourning for the entire Aris family, for Greek basketball and Greek sports. Giannis Ioannidis was a legendary coaching figure, he associated his name with the days of the Empire, with successes, titles and Final Four. If I continue to talk, I think I will belittle what Giannis Ioannidis was and what he means. Our foreigners did not have time to educate themselves and understand its enormous size. The rest know. I personally would like to express my condolences to his relatives.

They were much better than us, they played smarter most of the game, like in the third and the beginning of the fourth period. They had a better pace as they had played more games in the season. Some of our players played longer than the conditions allowed. Congratulations to our world for the great atmosphere and we are preparing for the next game.

Carr is a very hardworking boy. His level is well above a rookie. It was his first official game in Europe and the level of difficulty was high. He and the entire team are still learning. We are 10-11 new people. We’ve had a lot of absences in the last 20 days. We all got together for the first time this week. It’s about the whole team. We are getting better every day, there is effort, there is culture, there is no worry about anyone. I hope they can all show their true selves soon.

This year’s Mars ceiling is very high in terms of our yields and performance in the field as we reach our peak. There are no magic recipes and potions. We haven’t worked together for a single day. In the first game of the season we were invited to play against an experienced team and then we have to play against Olympiakos. Another big challenge. We are not afraid of anyone. We looked Gran Canaria in the eyes. It takes work, we have the raw material, great players and characters to get where we want to be. The effort will always be there.