With the opening fixture of this season’s FIBA Europe Cup in the books, Anorthosis Famagusta coach Antonis Constantinides believes his team would be making a mistake by believing the contest is over.

Speaking to a post-match press conference after their 81-74 victory against Starlites in the first leg of their qualifiers, the 2023-24 Cypriot League’s coach of the year said it was a pleasure playing against the Malta champions on Tuesday.

“First of all, I want to give my huge congratulations to Starlites for what they showed today,” Constantinides said. 

“From the time when we had the draw in FIBA and we recognised we would play against this team, I tried to find information and it was difficult for me and I recognised there is one really good and helpful organisation in this club. As a person of basketball, it is my pleasure to watch and play against me in this competition clubs like Starlites.”

Asked about the game, which brought to the Ta’ Qali Pavilion more than 800 spectators, the Famagusta coach said it was a deserved win.

“I think it is very clear. From the time when we had, we led for almost 39 minutes so, most probably we deserve this win,” he explained, “But this is what I said to my players: ‘if you are not serious for 40 minutes and make our lead bigger when we are up by 10 or 13 points, teams like Starlites can cause you a lot of damage’. 

“[The return leg] is difficult for both teams because both teams travel. But I think the game on Friday will be much more interesting also and start from 0-0. So we make a very big mistake if we believe it’s finished. We have just one small advantage on these seven points. 

Bench impact amid foul trouble

As is customary with Starlites, the second half brings out the side’s mentality and this caused Anorthosis’ momentum to falter. Constantinides believes they can’t underestimate Starlites despite the difference on paper.

“The game started from the beginning in the last two minutes of the third quarter when it was 13 points, and we made two or three mistakes at the top of the basket,” he said.

“For me, honestly, it’s unacceptable for a professional team to do so. It was like a school team in the last two minutes of the third quarter and it’s a very good lesson for us and we are lucky because at the end of the day, we didn’t finish in defeat.”

Asked about the impact of bench players, Constantinides said: “That is why we pay them to do a good job”, lauding the efforts of new signing Andreas Himonas who joined him at the press conference.

“That’s why one team is from 10 or 12 players,” he remarked. 

“That’s why we pay them to do a good job and that’s why Andreas Himonas is here with me because for me he was the MVP today in defence and in offence, and we have to give him congratulations. But I don’t want to underestimate all the efforts Starlites made. They play offensively, it’s not easy for any team to stop this.”

By the end of the third quarter on Tuesday, Anorthosis was at risk of losing three players to fouls, and early on in the fourth, they did in fact, lose centre Andrew Gordon. However, Constantinides believes that was not much of an issue, referencing his philosophy of physical basketball.

“As a coach, this is my philosophy – this is all what I believe. I start first from the defence and after from the offence. I don’t care if they make five fouls or four fouls. That’s why I have 12 players, 10 players,” he explained.

Cancer survivor Himonas lauds ‘great opportunity’

Cypriot guard Himonas came off the bench on Tuesday to finish with eight points, seven rebounds, and two assists in around 20 minutes of play. Asked about the experience with his new team after joining over the summer, Himonas a recovered cancer survivor after having been diagnosed last November, said it was an honour.

“First of all, I want to congratulate Starlites for a great game,” Himonas said, “it’s an honour to represent a huge club like Anorthosis. 

“It’s a great opportunity for us, all of my teammates, to play in the Europe Cup and try to be the first team for this club to go to the group stage. We try our best to play for what we represent, our country and the huge club we represent.”

32 years after the previous Maltese club took part in European competition, Starlites got their debut in the FIBA Europe Cup qualifiers out of the way on Tuesday with a close 81-74 defeat to Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta at the Ta’ Qali Pavilion.

Speaking to the press after the game, Starlites coach Paul Ferrante said this opener would give him and his staff a clear image of what needed to be fixed.

“Talking after a loss is always difficult, irrespective of the loss,” he said. Today we managed to stay close to our opponents, but that was not our main job.”

“I would like to congratulate my players for the job they did on the court and obviously, the opponents, because they beat us. But the thing is, we have to look at what situations we need to fix.

“We had an idea of the players they had but we did not have an idea of the team, because you couldn’t find anything of their friendly games. All that we can say now is that in this ‘first half’, they are plus-seven. 

“This is a game that continues, but it continues in their own home. Nevertheless, the game is still open.

Professional Starlites mentality

Asked about the difference in level the team experienced on the day, Ferrante mentioned the physical nature of play, as well as the use of the Instant Replay System (IRS), which had also been proposed for the local game a few years ago, but never materialised.

“This was a very physical game. In Malta, we are not used to playing this physically because we call many more fouls, many more contacts, but this is a good level of basketball,” he said. 

“This is also the first time we used the IRS in Malta. For the past two years, we never used the VAR system. And smartly enough, it was used by the other team to break the rhythm. This is also one thing which we can do as coaches. When you want to break the rhythm of the game, you can ask also for a review. And obviously, it has to be the referees who have to agree on it.”

Despite talks of ‘professional vs amateur’ before the tie, this was not the case on Tuesday as the teams showed no sign of disparity throughout the game.

“Famagusta are a professional team. But I would praise my guys because they acted like a professional team. And I would like to reiterate that having guys, getting time off work to come, you know, practise in the morning so that they still manage to fit two sessions shows determination,” Ferrante said.

“Putting the group together was not easy in such a short span, with so many changes. I think the guys who came in did a good job.”

Speaking about the second leg, Ferrante said they have a better idea of what to expect.

“Now that we have a game against them under our belt, it will be easier to see what they can do. We had an idea because all the imports they had were full games of where they were playing last year.

“We don’t have the advantage of having the recovery that our opponents have, because we have to go to work in the morning. But again, the difference between us today wasn’t that big.

“They were better in some aspects and we were careless in some other aspects. So, if we took away half of the careless mistakes, which were a considerable number, maybe we would be talking in a different way now. Having said that, they still remain the favourites.

“Now they have a seven-point lead. This was the first half. Second half – bigger supporters for them.”