Bologna –
Coach Luca Banchi spoke in a press conference after the game with Red Star: “It was a great win against a very strong opponent, who came to Bologna to prove after the game they lost at home against Monaco and showed their concentration, physicality and intensity from the start. We started the game quite well, I think in terms of commitment we played a very continuous game and obviously there are details to adjust and correct. When you compete at such a high level, where we saw talented teams, you cannot concede 19 turnovers that cost our basketball and our defensive transition a lot. There are details to correct, but we are starting from a very solid base that is tied to our identity and our group and team spirit.”
“I think the guys were on a mission tonight, there was a fierce determination to want to prove that they can produce the same style of play and intensity even just 48 hours apart. I don’t want to be wrong, but I think in those 80 minutes we were never down a single second. Three-point shooting percentages are closely related to the quality of the game, the distribution of the ball and the advantages we can take advantage of to try to raise our shooting percentages. As long as we can build good shots we can score them or miss them, it changes little to our game economy, obviously scoring helps. As a coach I would like to see them shoot with 100 percent, especially when we shoot with so much space, these are shots we have to be ready to take and score. I think this is the way, to play essential basketball. We have enough talent as long as everyone is tuned in to put the effort on the court that is needed. As a coach I keep the foundation as a dowry, which starts with the effort that is non-negotiable, a common desire to show that after 48 hours we are capable of playing such a game. You saw the level of aggression and physicality that Red Star played with, and even when they realized that the game was getting out of hand, they also put their experience to good use. These tricks served to break the rhythm of the game and take away our lucidity, I have to focus mainly on two aspects. The first is recovery from the physical point of view, cleaning up our game because we made too many lost balls. I like the idea that we compete when the duel rises to these tones, it was an engagement we strongly wanted and already from today’s practice I had the right feelings that the team still wanted to play an energetic game. The second point is the game with Sassari, which becomes the manifesto of who we are and who we want to become.”
