Brescia –
After winning the Super Cup, coach Luca Banchi spoke to the press microphones: “We are happy to have won this first trophy of the season and especially to have enriched the trophy case after a performance of this quality and consistency. I feel obliged to thank those who preceded me, Sergio Scariolo, who clearly has great merit in the competitions we have played here, for helping to set up and baste the work of this team and all the collaborators, society, technicians, who from day one have put me in a position to be welcomed and perceive the desire there is in this club to excel. I have tried on my part not to curb this flow, I hope that in these two days we have been able to show a level of cohesion and performance that, however, should not make us think that our work is finished. We are enjoying the moment and are already working with a view to the future, because the four workouts that separate us from the first championship game with Scafati will be invaluable in expanding a base of work that will have to serve throughout the season, when at full strength we will have three or four games a week. Continuing to work on the system will not be easy, however, I also liked the response they had this morning after the few hours we had to recover.”
“During training there was a desire to gather more information and be prepared for this competition. I am a bit of a non-paying spectator, I am trying to discover them (the players) day by day, I realize that there are so many champions in the team next to promising players, of potential. It’s easier for the coach when you have players of this charisma and personality, who know when it’s time to get serious.”
On the few trainings with the team before playing the competition: “I had 3 trainings with the team, as soon as I arrived I had to go to Barcelona for the Euroleague head coaches meeting. After the presentation I went to the airport and went to Barcelona without being able to touch the team, then I arrived and it was intense hours. Training was focused on being able to select information, pre and post training tested me and my staff, it was a lot of hours spent in the office trying to absorb as much as possible what is now an ingrained style of a team that I definitely don’t want to disrupt. This is a team that before me worked with Scariolo and even before that with Djordjevic, a team and a generation of players that has the ability to compete and you have to know how to align. I worked in information selection because I wanted to be from momentum in approach to the event and in no way think of slowing them down. I don’t know if I succeeded, but the games didn’t go badly. During the award ceremony Belinelli reminded me that I had lost two Super Cup finals, in this case the saying ‘no two without three’ no longer applies.”
On Cordinier’s impact in the game: “Very promising start for him, too bad for the two untimely fouls that forced me to sit him more than I would have liked in the first half. He handled his exuberance well in the second half, was careful not to make the same kind of mistakes. He is an interesting player, at Virtus they have noticed that, the choices made are also the result of wanting to enhance him.”
On the defensive impact in today’s performance: “A healthy group, with an important listening capacity and above all a widespread basketball leadership, with many experienced players used to playing to win trophies, who know how to approach this type of game. From the defensive point of view I think it is part of the DNA of this group, if there is the will and sacrifice even where you imagine there might be defensive frailties the commitment and effort of everyone manages to fill them. With this willingness to share the sacrifices that are needed on defense, putting themselves at the service of their teammates, spending a foul if necessary. Beyond the preparation there was the will. This will be a season of peaks, as is tradition for those playing in the Euroleague. Real Madrid won the Euroleague last year, starring in the ACB, sensational team, there was a lot of talk about the coach’s exoneration. There is no team that has not experienced down peaks, we have to build and store sensations that will become valuable in the future, when in moments of difficulty we will have to recall what we experienced on nights like these, also to try to return awareness to the players and bring them to relive those sensations that led them to excel.”
