Poupé: “We fought, but it didn’t come”

Pierik Poupe emphasized that all the Villeurbanne players knew that it was not enough to simply fight against Panathinaikos to win at OAKA, he believes that some details and the failure in the first half cost the defeat and asked them to continue the work, so that they improve from game to game.

In detail: “I told the guys that playing well against them wouldn’t be enough and, unfortunately, I was right. I am proud because they fought hard. We played well in defense and distributed the ball well in attack. Some details in the match, some failures in our plan, especially in the first half led to -10 and it is always difficult to come back against such a team and such players. Not a bad night for us even though we lost. Congratulations to Panathinaikos, we have to keep working.”

On his team’s performance for both home matches: “Every match is a good opportunity to play well and if you win it’s a great night. We concentrate more on how we play than on the result. Let’s see if we can recover and play against Virtus as a Euroleague team because it will be a difficult match. They had a good night tonight, they beat Monaco. It will be a difficult match again, like every night in the Euroleague. We must not be satisfied and use this match to play even better.”