Bologna –
Hackett: “We knew it was going to be a grind. Maccabi’s a very physical team, a completely different style from what we faced 48 hours ago with ALBA Berlin. So, we had to regroup, gain some energy, and we didn’t have much time to prepare the game. I thought our coaching staff was excellent to help us understand what we had to do on the court. And the guys in our locker room really fought hard to limit Maccabi’s offense, and to fight. We wanted to fight, play hard, and these fans were amazing tonight. They gave us a big boost late in the game.”
“We have many leaders in the locker room. It’s a matter of stepping up, playing strong basketball. The EuroLeauge is very tough. We’re coming from a very bad defeat in Olympiacos; we got the worst loss in team history. So, we don’t want to forget that this is something that really hurt our pride. We want to fight back and show that we are capable of playing good basketball and being strong.”
Shengelia: “It’s all about the reactions. Basketball is a game of runs, and the main thing is when we have a downhill run to keep our heads up, keep believing, keep fighting. And this is what happened not only today, but also in the last game, because the week before that we had with the defeat against Olympiacos and in the Italian League, it was very important for us to come back and show character and win these two games at home. We prepared this [box-and-one] and the coaches called for it at the perfect time. It was great timing. At the end of the day, as our coaches mentioned a lot, it doesn’t matter what we put defensively if we don’t put the effort it’s not going to work. So, it was a huge effort from the team. Me, personally, I struggled a little bit, but I want to thank my teammates, my coaches and the fans for putting their trust in me. And I believe that if we keep playing like this we’re going to go far.”
