Bologna, March 15 –
At the end of the game against Real Madrid, valid for Round 29 of Turkish Airlines Euroleague, these were the words of coach Luca Banchi: “Real Madrid came to Bologna to play one of their best games this season, with a lot of aggressiveness, physicality, but also a lot of lucidity. They had a great night from the perimeter and perfect from the free throw line, and this is the image of a team that after three losses came to Bologna and knew they had to play their best basketball to win. I am very happy with my players because once again they have shown that they belong at this level and they have earned the respect of their opponents, who in front of Bologna need to play a great game to win and for that they have to feel proud of their effort, to keep in touch with such teams and players you have to be almost perfect. I’m impressed with the way we tried to overcome their physicality despite the very low number of free throws and fouls, which showed that when you have a team like that, European champions, the referees look at you differently and that’s normal, but we stayed in the game. We finished with five turnovers and it is a picture of a very focused team despite the problems we found on the court to overcome their aggressiveness. I was very impressed with the way we came back in the third and fourth quarter, then their talent and great rotation from the bench allowed them to create the final break. Once again, kudos to our opponent but I am proud of our team and what they did to show that to beat Bologna you have to play a great game and that makes me happy.”
