Miguel Méndez: “It has cost us a lot and we have not played brilliantly, but we have pulled through”

MADRID, 9 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The national women’s basketball coach, Miguel Méndez, acknowledged that it cost them “a lot” to win (65-70) in this Thursday’s game against Croatia and that they did not play “brilliantly”, but it did give value to a ” victory of trade”.

“It has cost us a lot and it has cost us a lot to find an adequate rhythm of play. It has cost us a lot to defend, it has cost us a lot of work and they have scored on us first with three-pointers and then with easy baskets, on layups, and it has created a lot of frustration for us and we have attacked too quickly without ever finding spaces,” said Miguel Méndez in statements provided by the FEB.

The Galician stressed that they started “very poorly, under the rim, not only in outside shots,” but that things improved in the second half where they came out “a little bit calmer.” “With two guards we held the rhythm a little better. We lowered the team’s height even more to play a little with clearer ideas in attack and I think we are more comfortable,” he added.

“We defended, I think, their main player, Zellous, very well throughout the game and we supported the players who had put in a lot in the first half very well in the second. I think we got a victory by trade, we didn’t “We played brilliantly, far from it, but we took the game forward, which is what it’s about in these ‘windows’,” he said.

For his part, Queralt Casas pointed out that they were “better” in the second half, but that it had also “cost them.” “In the end we had three days to prepare for an official match and, not nerves, but we also need days of adaptation because each one comes from their club and it is not easy, and also here everyone knows how to play basketball,” he stressed.

“It’s true that in the first half we got a little more stuck and that the second half was a little more fluid, but they were also better. It was interesting until the end and the good thing is that it fell out of our control. part,” added the Valencia Basket player.