Olimpia Milano, in Athens another painful knockout: Ettore Messina categorical

Ettore Messina comments on the overtime loss at home to Panathinaikos

Olimpia Milano melted down at the most beautiful moment on Panathinaikos’ parquet and cashed its eighth defeat in a row in this edition of the Euroleague. The Red Shoes squandered a 10-point lead in the utlh quarter, getting caught up to 72-72 at the end of regulation time and finally collapsing in overtime, with Pao able to win 90-77.

Ettore Messina, speaking at the end of the match, did not hide his disappointment, trying to pinpoint the causes of the defeat: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos,” he began, “It continued to believe in victory even when it seemed difficult to do so. We played well for 37 or 38 minutes, moving the ball well, taking good shots, building 22 assists, but our offensive execution in the last two minutes was insufficient.”

“Truth be told, we created a lot of opportunities, shots from outside, shots from underneath, even free throws, but we didn’t score and that discouraged us because then we conceded a couple of easy baskets that facilitated the comeback. Losing a game like that is unbelievable, it’s painful, but I repeat: they did well to believe in it and in the decisive possessions they were better than us. We can only take those 37 or 38 minutes of good basketball and get back to work.”