Dimitris Itoudis (CSKA Moscow): “ASVEL and Monaco are two real candidates for the playoffs”
Wednesday evening, ASVEL brought down CSKA Moscow at Astroballe (70-68). At a press conference, Russian coach Dimitris Itoudis praised the merits of his executioner as his next opponent, AS Monaco (Friday at 8 p.m.).
The Muscovites’ hexagonal road trip got off to a bad start at the Astroballe, with a frustrating defeat (70-68), when they had recovered from a deficit of 18 points in the first quarter. But ASVEL held firm in the money time to stop the streak of four consecutive victories for the Russians in the Euroleague. Coach Dimitris Itoudis sees very good things for the French basket.
“I’ve said this in the past, and it’s not just to send flowers to ASVEL and Monaco, but these two teams are building a squad. They got stronger, got better. These two teams are much stronger than you might think. They are real candidates for the playoffs. I hope you understand that, that the life of CSKA Moscow this week is two away games against top 8 candidates. These two teams made big investments this summer, and it shows today. hui hui on the ground. “
If the coach of CSKA Moscow affirms it and that the players of ASVEL admit it, the coach of Villeurbanne TJ Parker refuses, him, to use the term of “playoffs”.
“The goal is to do at least the same as last year. If we can do better, that would be perfect. The playoffs? No, 34 games is a very long time. What is the basket? It goes quickly. We have another game on Friday. We have to stay focused, it’s one game at a time. There are some who played tonight, others who will play the next game. We need everyone (…) It wasn’t madness in the locker room. It’s a team that believes in itself, in what it does together, as a team. “
In Villeurbanne.
Photo: Dimitris Itoudis (Euroleague)