Virtus Bologna annihilated, Dusko Ivanovic berates defense
Third consecutive defeat for Virtus Bologna in the Euroleague. The Bianconeri team collapsed in Istanbul with Anadolu Efes, which won by more than 30 points (91-60), sending as many as five players in double figures including Cole Swider, author of 22 points, and Saben Lee, who scored 18. The champions of Italy, now further and further away from qualifying for the play-in, were not satisfied with 24 from the Alen Smailagic-Matt Morgan duo.
“Congratulations to Efes. We in the second half played very poorly, in fact there was no game – stressed coach Dusko Ivanovic in the press conference after the challenge with the Turkish team -. In the first half we had played so-so, but in the second half we gave up immediately and after that there was no game. Without the defense and without the energy it is difficult to play”.
Carsen Edwards struggled on offense, scoring only eight points with a paltry 3/16 from the field: “They simply played good defense against him and that was the problem. We did not share the ball with each other and he was forced to play one-on-two or one-on-three every time. This made his game difficult”.
“First of all tonight we defended poorly. Then, whenever we defend well, we score a lot of points in transition and play with more confidence on offense. On the other hand, when we don’t defend, nothing works: on offense we don’t score points, we don’t move the ball and we play slowly. Everything starts from a good defense” concluded the coach of the V Nere.
Virtus Bologna will return to the court on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in front of its fans against APU Old Wild West Udine, in the match valid for the 20th day of LBA before the Coppa Italia challenge against Guerri Napoli, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19, at 8:45 p.m.
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