Ettore Messina doesn’t want to make calculations

Ettore Messina blunt:” Let’s not make any calculations: finishing first would still be a great result.”

Ettore Messina commented on the victory against Bertram Tortona, penultimate day of the championship: “It was a very hard-fought game by both teams, with good moments and others less so. A very balanced match as always with Tortona We had too soft a defensive approach in the first half, with 46 points conceded. In the second half we tightened up on defense, while on offense we put the ball in the right hands, in the crucial moments Napier and Baron did what was needed. But it was a team victory, in turn everyone did something.”

“Now we are in a position to finish first and we will try to take advantage of it,” stressed the Meneghini coach. “Let’s not make any calculations: to finish first would still be a great result. Tortona I hope not to find it in the playoffs. We have always beaten her but they have all been balanced games, maybe the exception was the first leg in Milan. Their game plan against us is usually this, pass behind the blocks, challenge us a little more on the outside shot and fill the area. In fact we looked more for Baron exits and moved the pick and roll laterally rather than to the center. The first half affected us because we have a strong defensive identity, built over the years, and when faced with these situations we all get nervous because it is not us. It is true that today we were missing Hall and Hines, who of this defensive system are two crucial pawns. But we had to do better. As it happened in the second half.”