By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
You must be extra alert to spot it at first glance. The logo of Aris Midea Thessaloniki depicts the mythological god of war, Ares, and at his side, there’s a shield.
So it’s not a coincidence that defense is the key for Aris head coach Giannis Kastritis and his players as the storied club moves closer to playoff qualification in its return to BKT EuroCup after an absence of seven years. With three games left to play in the regular season, Aris holds a 7-8 record in very tight Group B, a victory ahead of two pursuers who are below the six-team cutoff for the postseason.
Through 15 rounds, Aris has leaned on the EuroCup’s stingiest defense, allowing 74.3 points per game. That’s no small feat and it’s a conscious choice, with Aris deliberately playing a slow-tempo game, opposing the trends of the modern game and controlling the tempo in an old-school way. Playing that way, however, the Greek club also has scored the fewest points in the competition, 73.6 on average.
Those numbers have been changing a bit in Aris’s favor, however. Little more than a month ago, the team was mired in eighth place with a 3-7 record after losing four games in a row. Since then, the Greek club has gone 4-1 and took that quartet of victories by an average of 10.5 points. In that span, including a 90-74 defeat at U-BT Cluj-Napoca, Aris’s scoring has surged to 81.4 points per game, while its defense more or less held, giving up 76.2 points, an average net gain of 6.2 points as compared with its first 10 games.
Make no mistake, though; while the offense will help the cause, Aris still hangs its hat – and its hopes – on an aggressive defense
“We play defense in a modern way”
Aris’s defense has even been a matter of minor controversy in the Greek League, with almost every opponent – and even EuroLeague teams like Panathinaikos and Olympiacos – complaining about the way they were treated.
The 41-year-old Kastritis, who has a decade on the top Greek level under his belt as head coach, responded to the accusations about the ferocity of his defense back in November, after the game against Panathinaikos.
When asked on the matter, Kastritis said: “I will answer on a personal level. We don’t deal with what is said and we don’t care. It may annoy me especially when it comes from colleagues, but only deeply inside me. We are interested in doing our job and there is no reason at this point for me to analyze how we play basketball. We play defense in the modern way… My answer is – if I have to give one – that first of all, I hope there is no intention (in the things said by others). Watching both EuroCup groups, Aris has the best defense in the competition in games officiated by Euroleague Basketball referees. Also, after every game, the opposing coaches in the EuroCup talk about our defense and how we trap them.”
“I don’t see a reason to reproduce everything that is said and I will not. For me, there are two criteria. The first is that the defense of Aris is the best in the EuroCup in games officiated by EuroLeague referees, and I don’t say this disparagingly to [other referees], but they are considered the best. Second, I consider our fans the most basketball-educated in Greece, and believe me, they would not like to watch wrestling on the court. The number of attendance of our fans is the second criterion.”
A big test against Bourg
This whole concept will be heavily tested this week at home. Aris is hosting Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse, a team that averages 85.1 points and leads Group B with a 12-3 record. Playing at home against Aris back in Round 7, Bourg won 72-65 but scored 13 points fewer than usual.
A win by Aris would be like gold dust for its playoff chances as it awaits a visit to ratiopharm Ulm (8-7) in the next round and what could be a winner-take-all home game against Dolomiti Energia Trento (6-8) to finish the regular season.
If Aris’s push for the playoffs succeeds, the shield of Ares will have had everything to do with it.