By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
ATHENS – The latest encounter between Basketball Champions League originals, AEK, and ERA Nymburk, landed the Queen in the Final Eight semifinals. The Greek club knocked out the team coached by Oren Amiel Thursday in Athens.
Nymburk was undefeated since last December and its previous Greece visit. After losing to Peristeri winmasters, the Czech Republic outlet fell to 1-4 whenever facing AEK. In full contrast, Ilias Papatheodorou’s side will continue in the Final Eight bumping into Casademont Zaragoza or Iberostar Tenerife Friday.
“They are different teams,” pointed out the Greek head coach, “However, it’s the same for us. We have to prepare for the next game. It’s very important to maintain the same speed against any team we face.”
“Good luck to them. When they beat us last time, they won it all,” Amiel recalled closing out the Nymburk portion of the post-game press conference following the quarterfinal meeting, the fifth overall matchup between the two teams in FIBA’s premier club competition.
Back in the 2017-18 season, AEK eliminated Nymburk by the slimmest margin possible. After the two-game Round of 16 series, the Yellow-Blacks went on to capture the BCL title winning the Final Four that was held in the same venue as the ongoing Final Eight, OAKA.
“I think Tenerife is a better fit for AEK,” said Nikos Gkikas shifting his focus to tomorrow’s semifinal after generating ten points and five assists in just over 17 minutes versus Nymburk. He started and banked a team-high 16 efficiency rating, but the deeper bench and experience spilling out of AEK was apparent.
“It’s such a luxury having players like Nikos Zisis, Matt Lojeski, Tyrese Rice, and Marcus Slaughter coming off the bench and making the impact they made,” mentioned Keith Langford admiring the packed roster as pictured by the official boxscore, “The first unit was a little tight, a bit anxious. Those guys came in and settled us down.”
The 37-year-old prolific scorer, Kansas alum, later recalled nearly playing alongside Tyrese Rice in FC Barcelona.
“Tyrese is all about winning,” he replied to a question regarding the chemistry between him and Rice, “Five or six years ago we were supposed to play together in Barcelona. Why it didn’t work out is a long story. We had a relationship off the court for a while. Talent will find chemistry eventually.”
Langford also discussed handling pressure stemming from the favorite label attached to AEK for the tournament even prior to the process of narrowing down the field to four teams.
“Somebody has to lead the pack,” he said, “This first win kind of settles the group. With our experience, we can lean on each other going on the next round. Some of the nerves are settled, so we can focus more on basketball in the next game.”
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League