Aris 90, Maroussi 69

Hmm. Looking for interesting things to write about this one. Aris defeated Maroussi 90-69. It was close in the first half, then Aris pulled away. Eh. Six Aris players scored in double figures. OK. And four in double figures for Maroussi (1-21). Blah.

Well, I did notice that Aris coach Vangelis Alexandris went ballistic several times. That’s kind of a trend here, where many coaches receive Messiah-like respect from fan bases and media. Alexandris coached Maroussi to its Saporta Cup (now called Eurocup) victory in 2001.

But still, it’s frustrating to see coaches lose their cool and yank a player off the court for daring to be just a little bit creative. Be a robot or you sit. For example, Sergio Kerusch had the ball and backed his defender toward the basket. He made a nice turn into the lane, went up and missed the shot. Ok, he should have sank it. But it was a good move. And apparently it wasn’t in the script. Alexandris immediately yanked him.

Discipline and team play are important. But when players are literally looking over their shoulders after every play to see if they’ll be benched or yelled at, it stifles the creativity coaches pray for when their teams are losing by 12 points in the fourth quarter to Panathinaikos or Olympiakos. Just sayin’.

Ok, so back to the game. Aris led 44-39 at the half. Prodromos Nikolaidis scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the first half for Maroussi. But the Thessaloniki crew clamped down defensively in the third quarter, and Dan Mavraides hit a couple of 3-pointers to give Aris some space. Princeton alum Mavraides had all 10 of his points in the second half.

Christos Tapoutos led Aris with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Ronald Davis chipped in with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Aris connected on 10 of 20 3-point attempts. Sam Muldrow (South Carolina) had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.

For Maroussi, Giannis Demertzis recorded 11 points, 6 assists and 4 steals. Seventeen-year-old center Lampros Tsontzos scored 10 points on 5 of 8 shooting. Andreas Kanonidis contributed 11 points off the bench, including two 3-pointers that kept Maroussi fairly close in the second half.

Aris (10-12) has won four consecutive games.

Maroussi coach eyes another win (Videos)

Maroussi coach Nikos Linardos is a realist. His squad suffered through an 18-game losing streak before breaking into the win column Saturday over Peristeri. So he wasn’t chest-thumping when he suggested Maroussi can win again this season.

“We have a chance to win one or two more games,” said Linardos, who has kept in touch with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski whom he met years ago while studying in the United States.

Linardos, who played on the Greek national team in the late 1980s, wasn’t naming names regarding which team on the schedule is beatable. Safe to say he wasn’t thinking Panathinaikos (17-2), which visits Maroussi on Wednesday afternoon.

After Panathinaikos, Maroussi visits Kolossus (14-5) on the island of Rhodes. The final three games are against teams with losing records, though still in the playoff hunt: home to Aris; at Drama; home to Ikaros.

Maroussi’s 58-52 victory over Peristeri wasn’t pretty. Maroussi failed to score during an 8 1/2-minute span in the second half while Peristeri played catch-up.

Newcomer Andreas Kanonidis (14 points, 9 rebounds) played another strong game. The 20-year-old sank three 3-pointers (see video). Vagel Sakellariou was a spark plug off the bench. He scored 8 points (see video) but each basket gave Maroussi extra momentum.

ANDREAS KANONIDIS 3-POINTER:

VAGEL SAKELLARIOU DRIVE & SCORE:

Don’t pull plug: Five signs of life (Video)

Nikos Linardos

Last weekend’s 92-80 loss to Rethymno extended Maroussi’s season-long losing streak to 18. But basically it was Week 1 of the new-look Maroussi. Four starters have left the cash-strapped club in the past month, the most recent being league-leading scorer Nestoras Kommatos, who joined his new team in Italy last Friday.

But coach Nikos Linardos must at least be mildly optimistic. His youngsters — the starting center is still in high school — play with heart and have nothing to lose. Here are a few points of optimism if you are a Maroussi fan heading into this weekend’s game at Peristeri (which at 6-12 is, dare I say, beatable?):

1. Turnovers: Point guard Lefteris Akepsimaidis, 24, protects the ball. Yannis Gagaloudis (now in Cyprus) led the league in assists (6 per game) and scored 15.5 points per game. He could make something from nothing. But he also led the league in turnovers (4 per game). Akepsimaidis had 2 turnovers Saturday along with 18 points and 7 assists. Two weeks ago, with Gagaloudis out of the lineup, Akepsimaidis didn’t turn it over once. In his past three games, he’s turned it over three times. Backcourt partner Giannis Demertzis (16 points, 6 assists Saturday) has 2 turnovers in the past three games.

2. Rebounding: Maroussi got hammered on the boards two weeks ago in a 40-point loss to Panionios, which had 43 rebounds to Maroussi’s 19. On Saturday, Maroussi outrebounded Rethymno 30 to 28.

3. Lampros Tsontzos: The 17-year-old center is staying out of foul trouble and gaining confidence. He played 32 minutes Saturday and recorded 10 rebounds (half on the offensive end). His only scoring was one free throw, but that will improve with time. Fellow 17-year-old big man Dimitrios Agravanis is more foul prone right now, but shows promise. He had 4 rebounds in 11 minutes Saturday. Both teenagers are 6-10.

4. New blood: In his debut, Andreas Kanonidis, 20, scored 15 points and had 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals (see video below). He previously was under contract with Panionios.

5. Shooting: Maroussi shot 56 percent inside the 3-point line Saturday, compared to 48 percent against Panionios. Five players scored in double figures Saturday. Vagel Sakellariou scored 15 points after averaging 3.3 ppg entering the game.