Casale Monferrato, May 18 –
Coach Banchi spoke in press conference after Game 4 with Tortona: “Another game marked by the energy and efficiency of our opponents, who found another excellent night. We didn’t know how to respond, we were guilty of losing the lead late in the third period. That gap forced us into a major effort that brought us within a possession. Then two fumbles and an offensive foul kept us from being able to play to the end. When you accumulate disadvantage like that, in games like these, it becomes complex, also because then there are episodes: the two consecutive offensive fouls, the lost rebound that cost us Baldasso’s triple. Then Tortona on the end was good at punishing us but as said the recriminations are for what happened before.
“We don’t need alibis, as a team we are trying to find answers, the players themselves while not being in the best moment are looking for a way to keep a waterline. They were two difficult nights, just as in Bologna: in front of us we had a team that shot over 50 percent from three-point range, with a significant amount of shots. Shooting like that you hardly lose a game. However, the experience gained and the path this season should serve as a warning to us: even tonight we were there at a possession stanza and we are here recriminating for an offensive foul or a missed rebound. Let’s move forward with the mentality that a team like Virtus must have to face another intense game. We came to play here on the heels of two victories accrued over 80′ of great intensity, here where we were the only team that managed to win in the turnaround. We found determined opponents and we tried to respond-I appreciated the willingness to stay in the game even when it seemed to be getting out of hand.”
