Ettore Messina shared his first impressions after Milano defeated Panathinaikos in Round 24 of the EuroLeague.
Ettore Messina commented on the game against Panathinaikos:
“A great win. I want to thank the fans who created a great atmosphere and helped us. I’m very proud of the whole team for how they fought from the first minute, with heart, but also playing good basketball, because you don’t score nearly 90 points against this team otherwise. Last week we were down after losing three players to injury in Venice, but we bounced back on Sunday and today we played with heart for 40 minutes. They should be really happy.”
Zach LeDay’s performance:
“A wonderful game. He was a huge presence for 40 minutes. One of his best performances with our shirt. He is well-liked. He hasn’t fully recovered from his shoulder issue yet, but he did everything and encouraged his teammates. But everyone played well, like Willy, and we hope this is a turning point in his growth.”
What has changed compared to his first experience in Milano:
“After his years at Partizan with a great coach like Obradovic, he has now grown both as a person. He is very disciplined in what he does and has more on-court experience. It’s hard for him to make a big mistake. In his first experience, sometimes he got off track, although he always contributed greatly. Now he has leadership, which complements Mirotic and Shields, who are more reserved. A great trio, and we’re lucky to have them.”
The satisfaction of beating the European champions with two players from 2000 and 2001 in the starting five:
“I’m very happy. Two young guys in those positions is also hope for the future. Winning hopefully gives us confidence, and we’ll see what happens.”
The difference between depression and elation:
“The problem is when you see someone get hurt. We lost someone like Nebo, who comes back and gets injured the next day. That brings discouragement, and the awful moment came in Istanbul. The other problem is technical. Today we played minutes with 4 guards. Not having much practice time, you rely on them. It’s hard because they keep having to change roles within the team. This creates highs and lows. We hope to fix that soon.”
Is this the night you’re most proud of?
“I’m very happy for my players. I don’t see it as a chess match; it depends mostly on the players. We prepare the game professionally, but if the players don’t give their all, it’s useless. Tonight is a beautiful miracle in Milano.”
Gillespie’s progress:
“He’s doing simpler things, more precise with positioning. He made important plays” – Ettore Messina added.
The market situation:
“There’s anxiety about whether we’ll bring in someone. Actually, if I bring in someone. But I’m not the one doing everything; there are two great professionals, Stavropoulos and Vacirca. The goal is to find someone better than the players we have now.
They work, propose players if they think they’ve found someone up to the task. Then we also have to think about the finances. It’s not just me searching, I have two top-level people. If we find someone, great; if not, we continue to give great trust to the players.”
Injury situation:
“We’re recovering. If everything goes well, Diego and Pippo should be back by Sunday, and we’ll see about Fabien and Nikola as we go.”
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