Messina discusses major Milan's concern, gives life lesson to Pangos and Davies / News - Basketnews.com

Ettore Messina presented the very first rule in life to struggling Kevin Pangos and Brandon Davies: "When shit is going on, you help yourself. If you're always waiting for somebody else to stop the fan, you get a lot of shit in your face."

Credit: Dainius Lukšta Credit Dainius Lukšta

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan's early struggles continue as the Italian powerhouse suffered their fourth defeat in a row on Friday night. Following losses over FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Virtus Segafredo Bologna, this time Italians stumbled against Zalgiris Kaunas, 62-71

Player of the Game EFF 17 Rolands Smits Points 10 Accuracy 4-8 Rebounds 10 Assists 1

Like in the previous games, Milan could not find their rhythm on the offensive end. Meanwhile, their marquee summer signings -- Kevin Pangos and Brandon Davies -- are still having a hard to adapt to the new environment. The duo combined for just 5 PIR and 15 points on five from 17 shots from the field.

Coach Ettore Messina talked about his star combo, giving them advice for a lifetime.

"Kevin Pangos and Brandon Davies are our top two signings in the summer. They are not playing well and we will try everything to help them play better. I brought them here and I put a lot of trust in them. I need to help them but also it is very important to help themselves," Messina said.

"In life, the very first rule is when shit is going on, you help yourself stopping the fan. Do you know what I mean? If you wait every time for somebody else to stop the fan, you get a lot of shit in your face. Sorry for my honest language. So, they need to help themselves and all of us are here to help them," the Italian specialist added.

Messina then explained what the team is lacking the most at this difficult moment.

"Honestly, we are not creating enough advantage on offense," he started. "Of course, when you miss so many guards, you know, it's tough to take away top perimeter players like Shields, Baron, and Datome, not to mention Tonut, who is a national team player.

"Our perimeter is now very challenged, I would say. And overall, we are not playing as we should. What I mean is that we give up on contact, we are not always there on setting good screens, on fighting screens defensively, so our level of physicality is not the level of physicality required to win in the EuroLeague. That's a major concern," the basketball professor pointed out the reasons for sloppy play.

Zalgiris Kaunas / Schedule

Zalgiris Kaunas EA7 Emporio Armani Milan71-62 Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz Zalgiris KaunasWed19:30 Valencia Basket Zalgiris Kaunas11-2519:45

"We had at least four plays where our big went to the rim and we can discuss if there was a foul or not, I don't care, the difference is that you have to make it through the contact because, in this league, you have to play through contact. Simple as that. And we are the team capable of playing through the contact historically," he kept commenting on his team's issues.

As stated by Armani's head coach, Keenan Evans and Lukas Lekavicius were the key factors on the opposing side why Milan failed to skid their losing streak in Kaunas, packed Zalgirio Arena.

"Zalgiris deserved to win. We tried to stay in the game but one more time our shooting percentage and decisions were not good to win a EuroLeague game, even though we came close a few times," Messina said.

"On a positive note, I want to mention that Naz Mitrou-Long since he came back is improving [with every game]. Maybe we have found a EuroLeague player and I am happy with this.

On the other side, the game was decided by good plays by Evans who had a very good performance together with Lekavicius. They were those who led Zalgiris to the win," the 63-year-old coach added.

Messina finished the post-game conference by praising his colleague Kazys Maksvytis, who has already defeated Messina, Sergio Scariolo, and Sarunas Jasikevicius this season.

Game highlights

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