Olimpia beats Brindisi but Messina resents Shields’ injury

Messina’s words after the victory in Brindisi

Before analyzing his team’s victory in Brindisi, Ettore Messina commented harshly in the press room on the incident that led to Shields’ injury, during the first quarter: “I’m sorry for Shields’ injury, it was not causal. He got his foot underneath him, it wasn’t a very nice thing, hopefully he won’t have it for long.”

“We are all very happy, we beat a team that has been playing very well in recent weeks. We knew it was a tough game, in a full building. We started very well, we addressed the defense and on offense we moved the ball well, unselfishly. I am very happy,” he later said about the success on Apulian soil.

On being one game away from joining Olimpia’s top 3 winningest coaches he replied, “I didn’t know that. We did a lot of good things and mistakes, but that’s part of the game. I’m happy with how we’ve all grown, me first in an environment with a strong footprint from Mr. Armani and Dell’Orco, that’s the most important thing. There is a style we want to refer to both on and off the field. There is attunement with the values, and that makes me very happy. Then there are the things that go right, the mistakes you make, the wins and the losses. We hope to win again in the future.”