Dimitris Itoudis spoke at a press conference after the conclusion of the EuroLeague game against Valencia.
Valencia managed to defeat the favored team Fenerbahce. In the end, the scoreboard at La Fonteta showed 77-74. Scottie Wilbekin had a chance to tie the game with a free throw with four seconds left, but he missed. Semi Ojeleye sealed the game with free throws on the other end.
“I congratulate Valencia. This was a very exciting game. We opened the game very nervously and allowed many turnovers. At some moments, those turnovers didn’t allow us to be on equal terms. In the remaining three quarters, we played well and even put ourselves in a position to win. Rebounding was one of the deciding factors; they aggressively attacked every rebound.
Although we didn’t manage to establish control on the boards, we overcame that and took the lead. However, that wasn’t enough because we did other things very poorly. In the end, free throws decided the winner. We were catastrophic in the first half, and we paid the price for it. We shot 11 of 19 free throws,” Dimitris Itoudis stated.
“We tried to implement some new things. We put Sertac Sanli at the four position; during preparations, it sometimes worked, sometimes not. We had defense in mind, but we didn’t grab rebounds. It’s not just about trying to create problems for the opponent in offense, but also in defense,” Itoudis explained.
Fenerbahce will host Panathinaikos in the next round, while Valencia will play against Anadolu Efes in Istanbul.