Vassilis Spanoulis expressed satisfaction with Aris’s performance for about 30 minutes against Mykonos, with the Greek coach noting that his team demonstrated on the court many of the elements they’ve been working on in training to secure the victory.

The “Yellows’” coach spoke about the gradual development of the team’s playing identity, while making special mention of the contributions of Nikos Zisis and the front office in building the roster. At the same time, he seemed reassuring about the condition of Matt Morgan, who is dealing with a shoulder hematoma.

Here’s what Spanoulis had to say in detail:

On how satisfied he is with the team’s performance: “Okay, I’m very satisfied. For 30 minutes, we showcased our strengths on both ends of the court. I think we played really good basketball. Then we shuffled the lineups a bit; I wanted to give everyone some playing time because I believe in all the guys. We’ll need all of them throughout the season. We’re still in the preseason. We also played a very demanding game against Erythros, and we have another one coming up against Basaksehir, so this is an opportunity to try out different lineups and see how it goes.”

On Mokoka: “He was much better than I expected after two months. He’s only had one or two training sessions with the team because of the matches. Lately, he’s been training more on his own. He was especially good early on when he came in. Somewhere in the second half, he got tired—some accumulated fatigue set in; the kid hasn’t played in two months. I believe he’ll improve and be in top form when it counts.”

On the fact that many players adapt their game to his style: “Of course it makes me happy, but it’s not something I didn’t expect. We signed the players in collaboration with my staff. Nikos and the front office did everything in their power to bring me the players I wanted. It’s very difficult during a single transfer window to sign all your top choices. I wanted to bring in specific players to play a very fast-paced style of basketball on both ends of the court— players who are willing to put the team before themselves and players who came here to win.”

On Aris’s level of readiness: “We’re preparing every day. You’ll always have problems. That’s just how it is. We train very hard, which is why we’ve built a deep roster with many players. I believe in all the players. Everyone will get their chance during the season. Beyond that, we’re building our culture and our identity every day. We’re refining certain details that we want to improve, There’s certainly plenty of room for improvement, but for thirty minutes I saw once again what I wanted to see—I’m pleased. We need to maintain our intensity in the final ten minutes. The players coming off the bench need to keep up the pace. Especially at this stage of the season, you tend to let up a bit, and that’s a lesson for us, but I think overall we looked good.”

On the fans’ enthusiasm and whether it puts pressure on them: “It motivates us. The team’s supporters are very important, and everything we do, we do for them. We want the stadium to be full. We want them to be close to the team, just as they are. We always need them by our side. What we have to do on our end is channel all that enthusiasm into motivation and determination on the court.”

On Morgan: “Morgan has a hematoma on that shoulder that’s been bothering him; he took another blow to the same spot today. It’s causing him pain, but it’s nothing serious.”