Bologna –
Coach Luca Banchi spoke in press conference after the game with Bayern Munich : “Tough game, tough defeat, game decided at the last possession. We started very well, then Bayern came back down and controlled second and third quarter, using our mistakes in their favor. Then we came back well in the game and Bayern was more precise in handling the last possessions than we were. More ups and downs? Emergency situations force us to constantly redraw our balance: we were hoping to recover Pajola, this morning we lost Ante and during the game there was Hackett’s injury. Against opponents and players of this caliber it is difficult, we were very precise in the first minutes of the game, not as much to give continuity of quality that was difficult to demand given the type of quintets we were forced to present. It should be acknowledged that we did not give ourselves away, we had personality that at other junctures of the game failed. Sometimes we should also play with an ounce of recklessness, in some moments I saw resignation that then disappeared completely. We have to build our DNA that gives us the strength to react in situations like tonight’s, against talented opponents. At the beginning of the third quarter we thought we would get caught up in the eagerness to recover: we must have determination and balance, we have all the qualities to do it. We had turned it over completely, giving the feeling that we had it completely in hand : they found two difficult shots, the first by the way came from a perfect defense by Polonara, the second by Napier came with two defenders on him, by the way the only triple of the game by Napier. We are commenting on a defeat, once again, in a sprint, in a game in which we had found the strength to turn it around. Tonight, in spite of the emergency, we went and found a way to put this game back on its feet: we keep confidence and awareness in our means, asking each one a step to consolidate us as a team. Pajola? He tried on Monday but it didn’t go, now we lost Hackett, a particularly difficult situation to handle.”
