MADRID, 24 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Bitci Baskonia, Neven Spahija, has assured that the team has had “personality” to withstand the pressure in the last few minutes and get ahead of Valencia Basket at La Fonteta (79-80) in the Endesa League ‘Playoff’ , and has stressed the “impressive” work done by his players.
“The team has done an impressive job. It’s not easy to play here, it was a very good match. It may have been a bit lacking in quality, but not intensity, especially in those last two minutes, where everyone thinks we’re going to fall We had a lot of personality,” he declared at a press conference.
The Croatian coach also warned that this is only the first step and that they must finish the job on Saturday. “This is only the first part, we need to be calm and go home to prepare for the next game. We have had many mistakes in defense and attack,” he stressed.
“We had everything to kill the game, but there were losses that you cannot understand. Our players have a lot of class and they need to solve that in another way. I am very proud of my players and we will go together with our fans to seek the semi-final,” he continued.
Spahija also praised the team’s good reaction after the ‘taronja’ side equalized and took the lead in the last quarter (79-75). “Until then, we had controlled the game 99% of the time. Valencia is a very good team, but the team reacted well with a three-pointer from Baldwin and good defense,” he said.