Venice, Spahija to Virtus: “I don’t want to make excuses”

Reyer coach: “We are more ready to play against them.”

Reyer Venezia coach Neven Spahija presented the game against Virtus Bologna, scheduled for Sunday at Pala Taliercio. “I would really call it a big game, because we are playing against a Euroleague team like Virtus Bologna, which is a team with a great coach and a great organization. We faced them in Turin: now we are more ready to play against them, because we know more about ourselves, as well as them, having faced them. We will do our best to win the game in front of our fans, because it will be a Sunday of great celebration in the stands.”

Spahija wants a strong performance from his team: “Comparing us to what we were in the Final Eight, I have to say that we worked hard, on offense and defense, and I think we made progress in both phases. Four games are too few to have a general evaluation, but those against Brescia and Pesaro are the ones that show where we want to go and where I want to go with my idea of basketball. We have to think about one game at a time, step by step.”

“I don’t want to look for excuses: when I signed the contract, I took my responsibilities, because I thought and still think I could do it, so the work we have to do now has to be aimed at winning one game at a time. Virtus is better than Brescia, but we have to try, because it doesn’t matter who we play against: we must always have the same approach against everyone, as I told the team. Then we will see in the end who wins or who loses, but we have to take the court with the same mentality, not changing our philosophy and physicality.”