Olimpia beaten in Dubai, Peppe Poeta: "Poor game on defense"

A EA7 Emporio Armani Milano was beaten 99-92 by hosts Dubai at the Coca Cola Arena in the 18th game of the Euroleague regular season.

Jurica Golemac’s team dominated the first quarter, closing it on 31-20 but also reaching a 15-point lead. In the second quarter Olimpia thins the gap to -2 but at halftime the score is 56-49 for the hosts.

The second half is rubber banded, with Milan coming within -1 in the third quarter but never able to tie or move ahead in the score. For Dubai 25 points and 8 rebounds by Dwayne Bacon, for former Awudu Abass 6 points, for Olimpia 14 by Shavon Shields. These are the words of coach Peppe Poeta in the postgame conference.

“We were too flat, especially in the first quarter, we allowed them to gain confidence. They have so much offensive talent, if you let them gain confidence it is hard to stop. We were good at fighting back and coming back down to close the third quarter at -1.”

“But we didn’t have enough strength to try to win the game. A poor game on defense. On offense I can say I’m happy, so many players in double figures in points, all involved. But with this defense it’s really hard to win on the road in this Euroleague.”