By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
AEK Betsson reached the BCL Final Four and, in front of their home fans in Athens, claimed third place.
Dragan Sakota’s side couldn’t get past Unicaja in the semifinals, but bounced back to defeat fellow BCL powerhouse Lenovo Tenerife in the third-place game. Naturally, Hunter Hale was pleased with the final outcome.
“I want to say thank you to the fans—none of this would have happened without them. To our coaching staff and the players: we kept fighting all season, and this is a testament to that. We didn’t blame each other or point fingers when we started slow—we just kept pushing. We got the lead in the fourth quarter and never looked back. I’m happy we finished the season the right way,” Hale said at the postgame press conference.
Coach Dragan Sakota returned to AEK last summer and led the team to a remarkable success by guiding them to the season-ending tournament, hosted in the Greek capital.
“We’re very happy to finish this competition with a win. Overall, reaching the Final Four and getting at least one victory is probably beyond what many expected of us. These other teams have been preparing for years, with more options, more talent, and greater physicality. We couldn’t predict at the start of the season that we’d be in the F4. We’re proud of the fans as well. Just like in the games, this win belongs to them. In previous years, we didn’t have this many people supporting us—I’ve been following. AEK has always had a big fan base, but the way we play, the way we fight and never give up, I think they recognized that and came to support us,” Sakota said.
He also spoke about the third-place match against Tenerife:
“The game wasn’t easy—we’re not a team built to play two games in two days, we don’t have that kind of rotation. In the first half, it looked like we were giving up, but in the end, we showed that wasn’t true. We came back, and I believe we deserved to win tonight. I want to congratulate our fans, the players, and my staff—they’ve worked incredibly hard all year. Now we’ll close this chapter and turn the page to the Greek Playoffs.”
AEK fans were chanting his name during the game.
“I can’t say I’ve experienced that in the past, even though I’ve had success before. But I don’t like being placed ahead of the players. Coming back to AEK, I see it as recognition and acceptance of what we’ve tried to build. We said we were going to try—and the fans started liking that more and more. This is the result. I belong to AEK, and that means a lot to me.”
Vidorreta and Abromaitis tip their hats to AEK
Lenovo Tenerife closed out the Final Four with losses to Galatasaray and AEK, finishing fourth in Athens. After the defeat, veteran forward Tim Abromaitis reflected on the weekend.
“Congrats to AEK, they played a good game, turned it on in the second half, and deserved to win. It’s definitely a disappointment for us—we were hoping for a better result—but down the line, we’ll be able to appreciate what we accomplished this season and look back with a different feeling.
When you lose the first game of the weekend, it’s a bummer, but you still have to go out and play again. Once the ball is tipped, it’s all about the effort to win. We had good energy, the atmosphere was really good, and the fans were loud and disruptive in their own way. As always, it was a well-organized Final Four and a great environment—an experience to remember, even if we didn’t win.”
Head coach Txus Vidorreta pointed to missed shots as the key factor in the outcome against AEK.
“I’m satisfied with the game—we controlled it and played well for 40 minutes. I want to congratulate Coach Sakota, his players, the AEK organization, and their fans. They deserved it.
They played better in the final minutes and hit some tough shots in key moments, while we missed wide-open threes throughout the second half. Still, I’m proud because we showed ambition and gave our best. Without Fran, Joan, and Bruno, being at this level is already an achievement. If we had made just a few of those open shots, we would’ve won the game.”
Vidorreta also addressed the performance of Jaime Fernández.
“Jaime is very important, but he’s still recovering after being out for a year. He did a good job in the first half, but lacked confidence in the second. His rhythm on defense is something he probably still needs to work on. But we’re happy he’s back and healthy.”