By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Among Basketball Champions League regulars, AEK sets high goals in FIBA’s premier competition once more. In 2018 went all the way, in 2017 and 2019 competed in the playoffs. Fourth postseason berth is on its way, especially following Wednesday’s win against Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem.
“We knew it was going to be a hard game” Howard Sant-Roos told Eurohoops following the Regular Season Gameday 9 tilt. “They are a talented team.”
Full-game effort
Ilias Papatheodorou never benched him on Wednesday night. Trough 40 minutes of work, he posted 18 points behind 6/10 from the field, seven boards, six assists. His latest stat-filling outing gained him a team-high 28 efficiency rating.
The Queen jumped to 7-2 in Group B and dropped the Israeli club to 6-3 to remain alone on top with five regular season games to go. Contribution stemming from Sant-Roos is massive, can be partially described by his 13.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.4 dimes, 2 steals and 34.4 minutes per BCL appearance so far.
“We just went strong performing at the highest level in every quarter,” he mentioned referring to the “W” over Hapoel Jerusalem, “We knew they were going to come back. We had to keep fighting.”
Tiebreaker
The second read on the 91-78 victory at the OAKA Olympic Indoor Hall, perhaps the key aspect is gaining the tiebreaker advantage. AEK lost, 85-78, at the Pais Arena earlier in the regular season, but secured a bigger margin at 13 points on Wednesday.
“Honestly the whole game,” Sant-Roos admitted replying to a question on the tiebreaker, “We knew that is was important to win and also to keep the score high. We ultimately achieved our goal.”
The 2018-19 Basketball Champions League campaign saw AEK and Hapoel Jerusalem in Group C, again split wins in their two direct collisions but on opposite venues compared to this year. Both teams finished the regular season with a 12-2 W-L tally, but the tiebreaker sent the Greek club to first place. The Queen lost 79-75 at home but prevailed 83-70 on the road.
Can be helpful to remind that positioning in the group stage is even more important under the format BCL introduced for the 2019-20 season. Top four teams still advance, but top two will gain the home-court advantage in the Round of 16. The first-placed side will have the home-court advantage in the quarterfinals as well provided it progresses to this stage.
Signed up to 2021
Sant-Roos joined AEK before the 2018-19 season. Similarities between the current and last year’s squad are limited, but the 28-year-old swingman inked a new contract last summer to remain part of the team for the running season and the next.
He notched 6.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals per BCL appearance, added 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per Basket League contest on his first season with the Greek club, contributed to capturing the 2019 FIBA Intercontinental Cup as well.
Teams facing AEK fully understand by now that Sant-Roos will guard their biggest offensive threat, but have to adapt to him making even bigger waves midway through his second campaign. His 9.1 points, 6.8 boards, 2.9 assists and 2.4 interceptions per Basket League game say as much, especially when combined with his enhanced Basketball Champions League stats.
Focus
The Cuban swingman is no stranger to European club competitions. Aside his second Champions League campaign with AEK, competed in BCL with Nymburk as well, was crowned EuroCup champion in 2018 with Darussafaka before moving to Greece. Improving his stats and all-around attributes is his thing that is undoubtedly trending upwards.
“Trust from my teammates and coach,” he mentioned referring to his continuously evolving presence on the court, “Working hard all year long and being focused on the task in hand.”
MVP bid
No ceiling in view for Sant-Roos with him striving for further improvement and focused on making things happen for AEK. His 2019-20 campaign may be extended with long runs in every competition provided he keeps pushing the black-and-yellow side forward with more all-around performances.
With no reason to predict changes in the immediate future, Sant-Roos currently leads AEK in minutes played, rebounds, assists, steals and efficiency rating per Basketball Champions League match, only trails Keith Langford in terms of scoring. His run combined with results achieved has the looks of an MVP campaign to say the least.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League