Sasa Obradovic spoke to the media after Monaco suffered their second consecutive defeat in the new EuroLeague season.
Following their loss in the first round to Valencia, Monaco experienced a debacle in their EuroLeague home debut, losing to Virtus 83-59.
“They were better, and we played very poorly, quite simply,” Obradovic began, addressing the disappointing start to the season in the European elite.
“What concerns me is not just that we lost but the way we lost both games. Both times, our opponents were more physical than us. If you don’t play with enough toughness and intensity in the EuroLeague, it’s impossible to win.”
“When you lose like this, making mistakes in offense and defense for the entire 40 minutes, the coach has to take responsibility for the defeat. An explanation? If you don’t play with a plan, if you don’t use your strengths and force certain things, if you lack patience, if you don’t commit good fouls – it will be very difficult to beat anyone in the EuroLeague, especially a team like Virtus, whose players all played at an exceptional level tonight,” Serbian coach Sasa Obradovic emphasized.
The game Monaco played is best illustrated by the rebounding ratio, which was 46-35 in favor of the visitors.
“Today we played against a team that deserved to win all four quarters. They outrebounded us again, just like in Valencia. Every possession, they gained confidence, and we lost it.
I think we are in good physical condition, but mentally we were not prepared for the game. We need to be ready to play tough; there’s no point in complaining to the referees, that doesn’t exist in the EuroLeague.”
Obradović and Monaco have a lot of work ahead, with a game against Bourg in two days, followed by a visit to Crvena Zvezda on October 18.
“There were no positive things in this game for us. However, it’s not the end of the world. We need to openly admit that we are in a difficult moment. There probably won’t be much joking and relaxation after this, but it can also make us stronger,” Obradovic stated before addressing the question about the upcoming game in Belgrade:
“Let’s first talk about Bourg; I don’t care about Belgrade at the moment.”
There is no exact timetable for when Kemba Walker and Jordan Loyd will join the team.
“They are training, Loyd has started with contact training. He may have been the one we missed the most. But we can’t expect him to play perfectly after a few months off; he’ll need time, just like Kemba,” Obradovic concluded.