Words of Pablo Lazo after the defeat of the Basque Empire by Ephesus
Pablo Lazo appeared at a press conference after Baskonia lost to Anadolu Efes in a match in which they went from less to more. The Vitorian team responded, but the Turkish team won in a close final.
Press conference by Pablo Laso after the defeat to Anadolu Efes:
“First of all, I congratulate Efes on their victory. I think our first half was good, but it’s clear that we lacked energy. And when you play with low energy, naturally you need to have a certain degree of physical talent, and today it was clear that in the first half we were behind them. I’m not talking about the score, but I have that feeling. I think our reaction in the second half was pretty good. We’ve improved our energy on both sides of the field. We controlled the pace of the game. We got some advantage. But in the last two or three minutes they made better decisions and won. I remember Poirier’s shot from the penalty line, difficult. Another one from Darius… Key baskets in a tie final. Let’s think about the next game, which is in 48 hours.
“In general, our start was not successful; we did not have enough strength to be late. We were called for a lot of fouls, we didn’t have a sense of control over the game. We improved this as we played. It is also true that we came out of the game in a short period of time and knew that we had to come, although it may sound like that, in the second half. We saved that end of the second quarter, I think also under pressure from the crowd, we got back into the game and in the third quarter I think we dominated and got to the end with options to win. I think they made better decisions and were more successful in those pivotal moments. That’s a bit like how I see it. Obviously tonight I’ll probably see some defensive situations, some offensive ones, but right now I have the feeling that this was a game where we went from low to high and that when we were in control, they had more success.
“I don’t really like talking about players. I came here the other day and told you, “If a guy scores 38 points, it’s normal that he’s playing very well.” I’m not that stupid either. But today Marcus was wrong. It is also true that the first time, on the first throw, he was called for a technical due to failure. I think it might have distracted him, let’s leave it at that. In the first act, he was called out for the flopping technique, for sticking out his leg, and this could have distracted him. We have to accept the team we have, both good and bad. I think I’m very stubborn in that the team is important to me, and in that sense I think the team did a very good job to be able to get into the game.
“(On the level of contacts) How much money did they give Peñarroya for talking about judges? Okay, change the question, I don’t want to lose money. “I think we should have played with more energy, especially in the first half.”
Photo: Baskonia
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