TJ Parker (Asvel trainer): “In the first half, the problem was in attack. We played too fast, without controlling the tempo, as we know how to do. As soon as we sorted out these few small details, we managed to play as we wanted, to make stops and to score big baskets. We had a big second half, in defense (29 points conceded) and only 4 stray bullets. We had targeted their rear, Malcolm Delaney and Kevin Punter. That’s why we started Matthew Strazel, to put a lot of pressure on them from the start. At the end, we saw that they were tired. The team is progressing, it shows and it’s nice. We did 19 more passes tonight. In fact, as soon as we were able to train, put behind us the covid and the glitches, there was more cohesion in what we proposed. We must continue like this. At -10 (39-49, 23rd), we weren’t worried. 10 points is nothing in basketball. The play-offs? We don’t think about it. We focus on the upcoming Jeep Elite match against Limoges (February 12). Because the last time against Chalon, we didn’t show the same face at all as in the Euroleague. We must be able to make this switch. For the rest, we’ll see later. “
Ettore Messina (Milan coach): “My congratulations to TJ Parker and his entire team. They played very aggressively for forty minutes, which allowed them to come back and make a difference in the fourth quarter. It’s hard to attack their defense, and we weren’t in our best shape. It would have been necessary to move the ball much more from one side of the floor to the other. They particularly hurt us on the post-ups. It was a problem all night, and David Lighty scored some very important baskets for his team late in the game. We hope to do better when we find the players we miss. “
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