Barcelona rematches Olimpia Milano, Messina: "Missed so many shots"
Fourth defeat in the last five Euroleague starts for Olimpia Milano, beaten in Barcelona 74-72 after leading for a long time. Messina’s team got off to a good start and closed the first quarter ahead by 11 points, while at halftime it led by 5. In the second half came the Catalans’ comeback, leading to a point-to-point final that saw the guests defeated.
Barcelona’s Clyburn was the best with 17 points, not enough for Olimpia’s Brooks (15) and Shields (12).
Coach Ettore Messina identified the causes of the defeat: “In modern basketball, whoever scores the triples usually wins. We had good shots, but we did not score. It’s part of the game, there are nights like that. We shot with bad percentages, with 25% I think, and that was important, then I think the not good defense in the third quarter. Because in the first half we had controlled well”.
“We played a very good first half but the two triples that allowed them to get back to -5 in the last minute were important. In the third quarter we defended poorly and allowed them to get into the game well, then the last quarter was very nervous on both sides. In the last possession we did not have the composure to find a good shooting option and Barcelona won”.
