Milicic: “We tried to raise the tempo”

Igor Milicic emphasized that the match between Aris and Hapoel Jerusalem went too fast for them, after they conceded 100+ points at the end, he focused on the fouls that Harper took in the first half and the fouls that the “yellows” were afraid to make in the second half, he asked for better offensive tactics and believes that the Israelis took a lot of free shots.

In detail: “First of all, congratulations to the Hapoel team. We did some pretty good things today, especially in the first half. Although the game ended with us conceding 100 points both teams played at a very high tempo. We also tried to pick up the pace and it was probably the last time we did it. The Hapoel team is known for their fast-paced game, so we expected a high-scoring match.

From a scouting standpoint, we knew Harper gets a lot of fouls and that kept them in the game, especially in the first half. In the second period, I think we were afraid to foul again so we didn’t foul in the third period, which was a big mistake. This gave Jerusalem the freedom to play as she pleased. There are many situations that we need to improve. Also, we need to develop our attacking tactics more, since we have all been together in only two training sessions so far. I’m sure we’ll be better after this game.”

On what happened in the second half: “Like I said, in the first and second quarters they scored 50 points, but like I said, we were playing at a very high rate of possession, so it’s not just the points that matter. If I’m not mistaken, I think that in today’s game we had about 90 to 95 possessions, which is too much. The problem, however, was that we gave them, through the shots, too many points without having scored normally in the game and this is a matter of scouting.

In the second half, when they started to penetrate and win the personal duels, we didn’t foul. That’s where a lot of the problems came from. Hapoel then gained confidence and even some difficult, marked shots started to come in. That was all.”