Pablo Laso on his only regret in final: 'Should we foul, shouldn't we foul?' / News - Basketnews.com

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Real Madrid missed the opportunity to raise the EuroLeague trophy for the 11th time during the club's history, as they bowed down to defending champs Anadolu Efes Istanbul, 57-58.

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Sergio Llull scored a two-point bucket with 45 seconds to play in the final, and the teams were separated by only 1 point (57-58).

Real decided to use two spare team fouls, which were left at their disposal. Guerschon Yabusele used the fourth team foul on Vasilije Micic while 17 seconds were left on the clock.

Then Real decided not to foul, and the game ended with Shane Larkin's three-pointer off the mark, as later, both clubs were fighting for the ball under Real's basket.

According to Pablo Laso, the last 20 seconds were a riddle for him on how to deal with that situation.

"I'm happy the way we played. I congratulate Efes for the win, it was a great game, everybody fought for every ball. We were missing some open shots and missing them at the end.

In my mind, it's probably going to be the last play: should we foul, shouldn't we foul? We didn't get the rebound. I think if we got the rebound, we could have had the last shot. But we couldn't get a clean rebound. Congratulations to Efes," Laso spoke in a post-game interview to EuroLeague TV.

However, in the post-game press conference, Laso admitted that he should have signaled for the foul.

"We were one point down, and it was a difficult moment for us to decide," Laso explained. "Now, after we lost, it's true - we should've fouled. I thought that with time remaining, more than 3 seconds, we could have defended it and get the last possession."

"We didn't get a clean rebound, and we couldn't attack. In that possession, they played very smart. They got a 3-pointer, they missed it, but we couldn't get a clean rebound, and we couldn't get a basket. If you are asking me now if we should have fouled? We should've fouled," Laso repeated himself.

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