Coach Pozzecco after the loss to Ukraine: 'We didn't have any energy' / News - Basketnews.com

Italy suffered a tough loss against Ukraine and now they're facing the risk of compromising their chances to advance to the second phase of EuroBasket. After the game coach Pozzecco confessed that the team was tired

Credit: Spada/LaPresse via ZUMA Press Credit Spada/LaPresse via ZUMA Press

Italy lost the second game of their EuroBasket, and they're now facing the risk of compromising their possibilities for the second phase.

The second half played by the Italian side was uninspired, both offensively and defensively, while Ukraine did an amazing job offensively and forced Italy to rush their plays offensively.

After the end of the game, coach Pozzecco confessed that the team was without energy, so they couldn't continue the good job they had done in the first two games of EuroBasket.

"We played without energy, we were a little bit tired. In the game against Greece, we spent a lot of energy, especially mentally", coach Pozzecco said. "So it wasn't so easy after two days to play a mentally tough game. Physically, they killed us. But that's EuroBasket, you know, you play every day, so it's not easy. Tomorrow we need to reset and play a different type of basketball."

Coach Pozzecco took some time to praise the game played by Ukraine. The Italian head coach acknowledged the quality that the team coached by Ainars Bagatskis showed.

"Ukraine played an amazing game, they were really amazing. In the first half, they shot like 50% from three-point. It was probably a little bit easier for them because they had already won two games, so a little pressure was off on them. But anyway, congratulations to them, their country has to be proud of this team because they were really amazing."

Italy was up by 10 points in the first half, but that lead didn't last that much, with Ukraine always able to come back and put the game back on the line. Coach Pozzecco was convinced that the energy factor was a decisive one.

"Yeah, in the first half, we had leads, but we didn't have the energy to keep those leads. It's not easy in this kind of competition to always be able to kill the game in those moments. We did that against Estonia, but of course, we had much more energy because it was the first game. Today we simply weren't able to do that".

When Ukraine started to take the lead in the third quarter, Italy got nervous, and the team started not to executeoffensively, rushing the plays and looking for individual solutions rather than team ones.

"Ukraine took the lead because my players have a big connection with what they do, which is something that, as a coach, I'm happy about it. When they're not playing good, we started to rush things and made mistakes", coach Pozzecco explained. "Sometimes after a mistake, you need to remain calm and play basketball, as you know, but because, as I said, today we didn't have any energy, we started to make mistakes offensively, and we weren't able to recover."

"We had already struggled against Ukraine when we played against them in the World Cup qualifiers in Latvia," Pozzecco continued. "We didn't underestimate this game, we knew that it wasn't going to be easy. They played a really good game, they shot the ball with great percentages and physically they were more intense than us. Mykhailiuk played a superb game. I just believe that in this EuroBasket, you can lose games like these ones".

Italy will now face Croatia tomorrow in what will be a crucial match for the Azzurri.

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