Bologna –
These are the declarations of Daniel Hackett, in the post-game:
“We wanted to play our last home game with pride and give our fans a victory. They’ve supported the team throughout the season, they’ve travelled all over Europe and they didn’t deserve the last four or five games in which we weren’t at a good level. Tonight we didn’t want to make excuses, we played with pride, as a team, sharing the ball and playing with energy, and that’s how we must continue to play until the end of the season. We were in an emergency due to injuries, but that’s part of the game. Tonight we lacked a lot in ball handling – Teo, Pajola, Mannion and Cordinier were out, so I took it upon myself to be aggressive, to make plays for my team. Things went well. It’s a shame I can’t continue playing in the EuroLeague, but hopefully I’ll be back next year.”
These are the statements of Tornike Shengelia:
“It is very difficult to be motivated for this kind of game, the last one when you haven’t reached the playoffs. But we had to do it for the fans, first of all, who deserved this and more, which unfortunately we could not give them in the EuroLeague. And we had to do it for ourselves. Now we are in a difficult moment, but it is always good to end on a positive note and now we must treasure this result in the Italian championship. We want to focus 100 per cent on ourselves, we did a lot of good things in this game. We played as a team both offensively and defensively, and we have to build on these good habits’.
