Sergio Scariolo jokes about poor attendance in EuroBasket opener / News - Basketnews.com

After a convincing victory over Bulgaria, Spain's head coach Sergio Scariolo made a joke about poor attendance in the first EuroBasket game.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Spain (1-0) opened its EuroBasket 2022 campaign with a convincing victory over Bulgaria (0-1), and head coach Sergio Scariolo had many reasons to smile.

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Spain Bulgaria114-87 Georgia SpainSat17:00 Spain BelgiumSun14:15 Montenegro SpainTue14:15 Turkey SpainWed11:30

His team scored 114 points – most since EuroBasket 2005, made 64% of 2-pointers (23/36) and 45% of 3-pointers (15/33). However, another thing that caught an eye was the empty Tbilisi Arena.

Few Bulgarian and Spanish fans attended the game, making it look like a matchup behind closed doors, and Scariolo didn't miss an opportunity to crack a joke.

Lorenzo Brownwas asked whether his relatives in the US watched the game, knowing that it was the EuroBasket debut for the 32-year-old guard.

"I made sure everybody would be watching the game. As you said, it's my first time playing on such a big stage, and everybody at home is proud of me. I made sure they have the right information, so they could watch the games," Brown answered.

That's where Scariolo stepped in.

"I'm sure there were more Lorenzo's relatives watching the game online than people in the arena," Scariolo said, making the whole press conference room laugh.

"I'm sure the next game will be quite different. We'll play Georgia next," Scariolo added in a more serious manner.

Asked whether a fiercer atmosphere in the upcoming game will put more pressure on the team, Scariolo couldn't provide a clear answer but added that he is hoping for the best.

"It will be fun. You never know how a very young team will react. I do like to play in those warm environments with fully packed arenas. I'm sure it's not a problem for Lorenzo, but the question is how our younger or newer players will react to this kind of atmosphere. I'm pretty optimistic about it," Scariolo concluded.

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