Neven Spahija gives a vague update on his future in Baskonia after loss against Real / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: D.Repečka Credit D.Repečka

Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz lost the Spanish ACB semifinal against Real Madrid 0-3, and head coach Neven Spahija summarized the team's season and talked about his future in the club.

Player of the Game EFF 36 Walter Tavares Points 23 Accuracy 8-13 Rebounds 12 Assists 2

Before that, he congratulated Real Madrid, admitting that they were simply a better team.

"The first thing I want to do is to congratulate Real Madrid on this victory in the semifinals. Their level of basketball has been very, very high, very physical," Spahija said. "We have not been able to match them."

"I also want to congratulate the team for winning two games in Valencia. We gave a lot of energy. We were not able to do more. I am very sorry not to have won at least one game against Real Madrid. But they were at a spectacular level," added Baskonia's head coach.

Spahija also emphasized the importance and greatness of Real's center Walter Tavares.

"We saw that the players wanted to do it until the last moment. I'm proud of my team, my club, and my fans. It's been a long time since I've seen such a difference in a player in the paint as with Tavares.

All of Madrid's players play at a high level, but he changes the game. He controls everything on defense, and on offense, he is like an octopus. Our tall players look like point guards against him," Spahija said.

Baskonia's head coach also noted that despite injury problems, Real remain a high-quality team.

"They have players down, but their game hasn't gone down at all," Spahija praised the opponent. "If you have a small forward who brings the ball down like Hanga... it's spectacular."

"I'm not happy, but I'm not angry. They were better than us. I have responsibility for the defeat. The team pulled everything out of themselves, they couldn't do anything more.

They were a professional team until the last moment. Fontecchio played all three games of these semifinals injured. He gave everything," he added.

Finally, Spahija spoke about his future, stating that his future at the club remains unknown.

"As always, throughout my career, I will tell first about my future to the club, and I won't talk to the media before it. I hope the club will sit down with me and they are going to tell me their decision. I will tell them mine.

Being the coach of Baskonia means that you have a very high level. I feel I have a lot of capacity to be the coach of this club. But my contract is over. Let's get together and see what happens. In my head, I have it clear. I'm very proud of the work we've done here," Spahija concluded.

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