By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid suffered to secure the win in Bulgaria against Hapoel Tel Aviv (75-74), and Sergio Scariolo gave an extra reason for his team’s struggle.
The Italian coach spoke after the game, highlighting the importance of the victory and speaking about the difficult journey they had to Sofia, arriving at 3 a.m. in the Bulgarian capital.
“Is a big win for the level of the opponent, for the control of the game we had in the 40 minutes, and for the way we got here, three in the morning. This morning, after some complications yesterday. Hell of a job for the players, our defense was more than good against the best offense so far in the competition”, he said after the win against Hapoel.
“I’m happy about this and could also push forward in terms of confidence and ability to play on the road”, added. “When they were six up, we didn’t panic and kept clear ideas. We knew what we had to do. It was a great game, open and closed. We had the confidence in their runs“, he added.
“Great win for us for different reasons. First of all, for the level of the opponent. They’re the best team in the Euroleague so far. Secondly, for the control of the game, from the beginning to the end. We got back when they were six up“, he continued in the press conference.
“Also, for the circumstances we got here. Three in the morning on gameday for a complicated trip. The players made a great effort. I’m really happy for them, the reward is very well deserved”, added Scariolo. “We never lost grip of the game, even when they came back. They have a great team with great players and a great coach“, he explained.
“In the Euroleague, every game is extremely difficult. Home, on the road… on the road obviously more, especially if you had the bad luck on the three we had…But at the same time, I told them in the locker room: listen, guys, if you come here in these circumstances and can beat the best, it means we’ll have more chances. It’s actually hard, because we lost a couple of games in the last seconds“, said Scariolo.
In the last possession, Mario Hezonja shot a three even when the clock was running, and Scariolo explained his point of view to the media. “I need to rewatch it, but my feeling is… I don’t know if the shot of Maledon hit the rim or not. If it hit the rim, it was a big mistake from the table because they didn’t reset the possession. At that point, given that mistake, it was the good decision to shoot, because the clock was running down”, explained the coach.
“It was much better to take the shot and to have live rebounds, which you make get even rather than ending up with a violation, time out, last play… obviously if the table was correct, and I say again I don’t have a clear idea if the basketball hit the rim or not. If it hit the rim, call the reset and hold the ball until we were fouled”, concluded.