Ettore Messina (Milan coach): “Even if you are sixty years old and you have a great career behind you, a pat on the back is nice”
Armani Milan put an end to a series of 9 defeats at the expense of the Red Star of Belgrade which came out of 6 victories in a row (71-67).
The Milanese were able to count on 19 points from Billy Baron and 15 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists from Brandon Davies. Coach Ettore Messina’s comments:
On the victory: “We deserved to win after leading the whole match against a team in great shape, which has grown a lot in recent weeks. It was a big victory. At the start of the fourth quarter, when we were a little tired, we probably missed a few good shots, but our defense was remarkable, and it won us the game. It was a victory that we were waiting for, I hope it will give us confidence for the future. I’m happy for our players, who always gave their all, and we’re still without Shavon Shields, Kevin Pangos, and Gigi Datome too. »
On the season: “Two months ago we won here against Partizan, two days later we won in Monaco and we were 3-1. Shavon Shields was injured that night. The next game, Billy Baron got injured and was out for a month, then Kevin Pangos. We always build our chemistry, we don’t have it. We had a lot of serious injuries last year, but the season was a few months old, we were already a team. This year everything happened immediately and in addition we had seven players involved in the European Championship. It’s completely different. »
On his personal situation: “It’s a relaxation. I think when you’ve done well in your career, but you lose nine games, it seems like nothing else matters, so that’s definitely a slack. There is no pressure from the club. Mr. Armani and Mr. Dell’Orco are exceptional people, who could also personally and will not put any pressure on us. But we were sorry, we still are, I have guys who maybe play badly but play hard. And from time to time, even if you are sixty years old and have a great career behind you, a pat on the back is nice”.
Photo: Brandon Davies (Armani Milano)