Banki: “30 minutes of good basketball is not enough to beat Olympiakos in the SEF”

With a defense that… bit in the second half and a terrible third quarter that made individual scores 20-5(!), the Olympic prevailed 74-69 Virtuesin the packed SEF, covering the -2 loss in the first round.

After the match, Luca Banki gave credit to the “red and whites” for the aggressiveness they showed in their defense in the third quarter, stressing that 30 minutes of good basketball they are not enough to beat him Olympic at his headquarters.

His statements in detail:

“First of all, let me congratulate Olympiakos for the victory. I think that the comeback they made in the third quarter changed the history of the game. We are disappointed because in the first twenty minutes we thought we would have more will as a whole to get the victory. However, the quality of our image fell due to the aggressiveness and determination of Olympiakos in defense and all this led us to lose the game”.

For Belinelli not competing enough in the 2nd half: “He struggled and even started in the 3rd period, maybe you should take a closer look.”

For Olympiakos’ defense in the 3rd period: “We have to give credit to Olympiakos for their aggressiveness. I think it was a combination of his defense and our own choices. On the other hand, we have to think about the quality of basketball we played in the 2nd half, especially if we compare how we played in the first 20 minutes. We made more mistakes, we didn’t get an assist, we had 1/14th. I believe that our image was affected by Olympiakos’ aggressiveness in defense and by our own bad decisions. To win in such a good venue, against such a strong team, you need 40 minutes of good play. It is not my theory, this is the history of basketball, to beat Olympiakos here, 30′ of good basketball is not enough.”