Bologna –
These are the statements of coach Sergio Scariolo in the post-game of the thirteenth day of the Italian championship, against Armani Milano: “We have to congratulate Olimpia, who played better individual pairings in defence and also had, especially in the second half, very high percentages despite the fact that we gave them difficult shots. We didn’t have the necessary physical and athletic condition, with many guys not at 100 per cent but who still wanted to try: now we have to turn the page and grow from all points of view. Continuity needs more strength and more athleticism, these are things we know, but circumstances change and we have to take them into account. Obviously we hoped to stay more in the game, but we really lacked in athletic condition because I’ve been literally breathing down some players’ necks for a long time, waiting for others to recover.
We had a different athletic level, for example Ojeleye who was definitely rusty: it might have been worth playing him or not, but he had been out for a month with very little training in his legs. The individual work they can do to get into shape is not the same as the match pace, but he did get some minutes and that’s positive. Isaia? He doesn’t have a return date, but his return won’t be very short.
Despite the defeat we are in a very good situation on both fronts, considering where we are and what we have experienced. After a painful defeat like this one I’m disappointed, of course, but it’s also true that continuity is shown by the performance of a team that is healthy and that allows me to field players who have the physicality for this level, but we need an athletic situation that we don’t have right now.
