TJ Parker shared his initial thoughts at the press conference after Asvel suffered a 94-73 defeat to Crvena Zvezda.
The French coach didn’t have much to say about the game itself in which his team experienced a relatively routine loss.
“We were down by 20 at halftime, and in the second half, we fought to make up the deficit, but in this league, when you’re trailing by so much, it’s hard to come back,” TJ Parker stated.
Parker also emphasized that his team is new, and they have a lot of time to work and learn.
“We must not rush; this is a new team, we started from scratch. It’s tough when the opponent begins the game shooting 6/6 from three-point range. We made a lot of mistakes, and now it’s up to us to work on them.”
In response to the observation that Asvel committed only one foul in the first quarter, Parker said:
“You have to make it tough for the opponent, use fouls wisely. Many players are playing at this level, their players have been at this level for a long time, and it’s up to us to learn a lot.”
The French team arrived in Belgrade on the day of the game, and Asvel’s coach had an interesting response to the question of why they didn’t arrive in the Serbian capital earlier.
“Give me more money, and I’ll come a day earlier. There were no direct flights; that’s the reason.”
Regarding the new team and the performance of the red and whites, he had nothing but praise.
“Crvena Zvezda has a better team than last year; they are very talented. They are a tough team to play against.”
In the next round, Crvena Zvezda will visit Zalgiris, while Asvel will host Partizan at their home court.