Turin –
These are the words of coach Sergio Scariolo in the postgame: “Obviously I’m happy as a coach with how the team played on both sides of the court. Right approach on defense, on offense we moved the ball well: 20 assists without considering Milos is a very high number for us. We were playing against a team we respect a lot, playing well and working well during the week, well coached and compact, which has given us more than a few headaches in recent years. This time we played a complete game, without giving up, controlling rebounds fairly well and with clear ideas on defense and offense.
When you enter a competition like this with some pressure your performance drops as well as the other way around, it’s mathematical, look at how many Euroleague teams have been eliminated in their respective competitions. Fortunately I would say we shook off some of the tension, then the first and second halves today were good: meanwhile we are in the final after 13 years when Virtus had never reached it and now it’s time to win it.
Abass? We’re giving each other a hand: we’re giving it to him by trying to raise the minutes without overdoing it. He is a physical player who plays with heart: he has a structure that allows us to think he can play at the European level as well. In attack he is obviously a bit rusty, he also has a good hand that will come back to show, he doesn’t have to think about making difficult actions. Meanwhile in the back he is giving us a hand, and for us it is crucial to have in that area of the field to have a player who can play two roles 4 and three. Nice feeling to have a useful player who is already actively giving us a hand.
The best Virtus of the season? Hopefully it will be tomorrow. It is difficult to rank also because with all the respect and esteem I have for today’s opponents, it is different to compare them with Barcelona or Real Madrid: when Barcelona came to visit us and was 100 percent they passed over us as we did today. Everything has to be proportionate: probably today Tortona paid for the effort of the other day not being used to playing every other day.
Shengelia the key? Definitely, finally I would say, she is in a good condition, after a series of misfortunes one after another. He is key for us, not only as a scorer but also defensively being a great player and we can afford to do interesting things tactically with him. He is newly conditioned to play with energy and intensity on both sides of the court. We missed him a lot both when he was not there and when he was 50 percent. We have to be able to dose him in the right way because he tries so hard; he is decisive when he is in excellent condition.
The 12-man rotation doesn’t excite me. I am not necessarily a friend of 12-man rotations indeed because in more complicated times they even confused us sometimes. The important thing is to have 10, two per role who can be on the court. Then it depends on having confidence: yesterday Camara came on the court in the first quarter and sometimes it’s about taking risks. If you give confidence maybe to players because they deserve it, they can change the game for you tactically, I’m also willing to do that but in a judicious way and not in a dastardly way: you don’t dive into a pool without checking that there is water in it. It’s not a granitic principle: having 10 that can be on the field with total reliance is crucial even though each level has its own answer so you have to be able to read the situation and also calibrate yourself to who you have in front of you. Even the tactical choices that the opponents make have to be read because maybe a player is playing today who could be challenged by the opponents tomorrow and vice versa.”
