Sergio Scariolo, coach of Real Madrid, spoke about the end of his team’s eight-game winning streak after losing as visitors in the Euroleague against EA7 Milan and considered that his team must be ambitious, while showing his desire to turn the page quickly.
“We had a fairly even first, third and last quarter and a terrible second quarter, which put a too heavy burden on our shoulders. After many victories in a row, sometimes you lose a little hunger, but that is not what we want. If we want to win ten in a row, we have to be willing to win eleven. To win eleven, we have to be willing to win twelve,” he said.
“We approached the game very well and when we rotated a little towards the bench at the end of the first quarter and at the beginning of the second, we did not enter in the correct way. In any case, this is a very long competition, we have another game in 48 hours and we have to recover, understand, learn and return to the court next Thursday in front of our people and play with more consistency throughout the match,” he explained.
Scariolo believes that they should be able to finish possessions near the rim, a section in which they made “several mistakes” making the rival’s job easier. Furthermore, he indicated: “If they score 89 points, regardless of their merits, it is clear that especially in that second quarter, which is the one I regret the most, we have to focus much more on the defensive aspect.”
On the other hand, he referred to the figure of the Croatian forward Mario Hezonja: “He is doing well. He came from a good period, very good, with many consecutive games at a high level. Today, of course, he did not play his best game, but he tried to come back in the second half, scored a couple of baskets and tried to help. It was not his best night, but he works and is within the team.”
