Aris lost 87-92 to Maccabi Tel Aviv in a preseason friendly in Cyprus on Friday, the first serious test for new head coach Vasilis Spanoulis as he builds a squad expected to compete at the top of Greek basketball in the coming years.
The Thessaloniki club showed two very different faces over the game. Aris lacked defensive cohesion in the first half and fell behind by as much as 15 points, but came back in the second half with energy, physicality and personality, completing a full turnaround before Maccabi closed out the win in the final two minutes.
Slow start for Aris
Aris struggled with communication and cheap turnovers in the opening five minutes, committing four giveaways as Maccabi scored repeatedly in transition to lead 5-15. The Israeli club's hot shooting from long range stretched the margin to 12 points at 9-21.
Aris found better defensive balance once players with previous experience playing together took the floor, putting together a 6-0 run. The gap could have closed further before the first quarter ended 15-21, but guard Keifer Mitrou-Long missed a fast-break layup and an open three-pointer.
Antetokounmpo brothers feature
Kostas Antetokounmpo blocked Maccabi center Roman Sorkin at the start of the second quarter in one of the highlights of the game. Aris opened the period with the Antetokounmpo brothers, Kostas and Thanasis, both up front alongside I.J. Lindell at small forward.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the older brother of Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Lindell provided scoring, but Maccabi kept finding the range from outside to lead 27-38 by the 15-minute mark, with forward Bonzie Colson the main threat after making eight of 15 attempts.
Aris missed its own open looks and struggled to contain Maccabi's inside game, falling behind by as much as 15 points before Ife Lundberg beat the halftime buzzer for Maccabi to make it 37-50. Maccabi made nine of 17 three-point attempts in the first half.
Aris completes the turnaround
Looking to fix his team's defense, Spanoulis opened the second half with a three-guard lineup of Dimitrijevic, Mitrou-Long and Lefteris Bochoridis, paired with Lindell and Robinson Earl up front. The switch brought more energy and disrupted Maccabi's offense, with Bochoridis key on defense and Dimitrijevic on offense as Aris cut the deficit into single digits before Robinson Earl took over.
The Greek club found its rhythm, extended the run further and completed a full turnaround to lead 63-62, outscoring Maccabi 28-18 in the third quarter. Maccabi answered with a run of its own, but Thanasis Antetokounmpo's offensive rebounds and the extra possessions they created helped Aris stay in touch.
Maccabi's experience tells late
Aris kept defending hard in the fourth quarter, and despite allowing Maccabi a double-digit number of offensive rebounds, matched the Israeli side with two scores from Charalambopoulos before a basket from Tolliopoulos put Aris back in front. The teams went into the final two minutes level at 82-82, with Aris having come back from a five-point deficit.
From there, Maccabi's experience showed. A personal play from Wallace, two free throws from Oshae Brissett and a cheap Aris turnover that led to an easy basket for Hord allowed the Israeli club to open a six-point lead at 82-88 and close out the win. The final quarter scores read 15-21, 37-50, 65-68 and 87-92.
Background
Spanoulis, one of the most decorated players in Greek basketball history with multiple EuroLeague titles at Olympiacos, is building the Aris roster from scratch this summer in his role as head coach. Maccabi Tel Aviv, based in Israel, are one of the most successful clubs in EuroLeague history and enter the new European season as one of the competition's regular participants.
