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.

Preview: Stretch run for Maroussi

Maroussi wins Saporta Cup (now Eurocup) 2001

So, Maroussi has three more opportunities to get another victory before being relegated to a lower division next season. Since its historic win over Peristeri two weeks ago, Maroussi lost to Panathinaikos and Colossus, but they basically amounted to preparation for the final three games (against sub-.500 clubs).

And may I suggest Maroussi (1-20), which hosts Aris (9-12) tomorrow evening, learned quite a bit in the losses. First, young Dimitrios Agravanis is emerging as a legitimate offensive threat. The 6-foot-10 teenager — he turned 17 in December — averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds per game. Second, poor 3-point shooting is killing them.

Maroussi went 8 of 46 from 3-point range the past two games. That’s 17 percent. Prodromos Nikolaidis is their go-to guy from downtown but he’s just 3 of 17 in the two losses. The problem is, with Nestoras Kommatos and three other starters gone, teams key on Nikolaidis. Still, he led Maroussi with 22 points (7 of 11 inside the arc) against Colossus on Wednesday.

Aris would make the playoffs if the season ended today and is riding a three-game winning streak. Christos Tapoutos is the team’s leading scorer (14.8 ppg, 6 rpg). Ronald Davis, an alum of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, averages 10 points per game.

Aris has young scorers, as well. Sergio Kerusch (Western Kentucky) averages 7.5 ppg and 4 rpg, while Sam Muldrow (South Carolina) is at 6.5 ppg and 5 rpg. Princeton’s Dan Mavraides has been getting more minutes lately, too. Kerusch scored 24 points in a 79-71 victory over Maroussi on Jan. 4.