The statement of the coach of the red and white team after the defeat in the first derby of the season.
Coach Red stars, Janis Sferopulosshared his impressions after the defeat of Partizanwho won 89:77 in the 11th round of the Euroleague, on the away court.
– Today we were not ready to play this kind of game. Our aggressiveness and toughness were not up to the level for the derby. We didn’t play well in defense, we allowed them a lot of rebounds. They scored some easy points. Unfortunately, we did not raise the level of toughness, Partizan controlled the game and deserved the victory. I congratulate Partizan on the victory. We wanted so much to win this match, and it got the better of us. We didn’t fight the way we should, slow decisions, it was because we weren’t mentally strong. I wanted us to win in honor of Marko Ivković, but we failed. I want to thank the fans for coming – said Sferopoulos.
When asked if he did Partisan surprised Spheropulos replied:
– We weren’t surprised, we expected that, because they have the athleticism and bodies to play well in defense. Our mental preparation was not enough to respond to their aggressiveness.
He also commented on the absence Colombia:
– I agree that we missed Bolomboi, but I’m not looking for excuses. We will play better when he comes back.
On the bad defensive play, Spheropulos said:
– We didn’t play well in defense, we didn’t have open shots.
He commented on the question about the possible lack of players in the central position:
– First of all, I want to say that in addition to Petrushev, we have two more centers in that position, Mitrović and Plavšić, and Bolomboj should return to us.
When asked about the players, the coach Stars stated:
– I don’t agree that there was no motivation, but there was a lot of pressure. Matches like this are not easy to handle. Because of the pressure we didn’t make good decisions, I think that’s why we weren’t ready to play hard.
Finally, he referred to the lack of concentration:
–I agree that we were not focused. We wanted to win so much. We didn’t make good decisions, we weren’t firm. It’s something we have to find a way to fix. It’s my responsibility – he concluded Spheropulos.
Source: hotsport.rs
