Venice Collapses; Spahija, Stunned, Lashes Out at His Players

A night to forget for Reyer Venezia, which lost 98-92 to Cluj-Napoca in Romania in the Eurocup game. The Orogranata, leading 50-40 at halftime, fell apart in the second half, conceding 58 points in front of a stunned Neven Spahija.

“First of all, I’d like to congratulate Cluj on their victory: they played an extraordinary second half. As for us, however, we played a very poor second half, especially on defense, putting in a performance that was below our usual standard and completely unacceptable.”

The Reyer coach pointed the finger at the defense: “It’s unacceptable to give up 58 points in 20 minutes against any team in Europe, just as it’s unacceptable to lose a game while scoring 92 points on the road. As I said right after the final buzzer, perhaps it’s better that this kind of disappointment comes now, at the start of the season, rather than in the second half of the season when the games will carry much more weight.”

Spahija hopes to turn the page immediately and that the match won’t have any repercussions: “Now we’re heading home, and we need to work to fix the situation immediately, because I can’t accept this kind of defense.” Venice’s top performers were Wiltjer with 19 points and Tessitori with 16. Reyer had won its opening game in the European competition against Frankfurt.