Messina on the future of the series against Efes: 'It's over, we need a miracle' / News - Basketnews.com

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Coach Ettore Messina entered the press conference room with a lot of pride for the performance that his players created tonight.

Player of the Game EFF 27 Sergio Rodriguez Points 17 Accuracy 6-10 Rebounds 5 Assists 5

AX Armani Exchange won down the stretch after losing both Malcolm Delaney and Sergio Rodriguez, while Shavon Shields made every shot, making the crowd go crazy.

"As a club, we're extremely proud of what the players did tonight," Messina said in his post-game conference. "Despite the injury of Delaney, Sergio Rodriguez gave us a chance to win the game, but then we also lost him to another injury. Everybody played hard, they were amazing."

"We also want to thank our fans, it was one of the best nights that we lived as a team with this crowd," Messina added. "They were cheering and encouraging our players from the get going."

"It's not easy to get the love of the Milan fans, they're used to the wins, so it's not easy, but tonight there was really a special atmosphere, and they helped us a lot," the Italian coach continued.

But despite the pride for the win, coach Messina admitted that the continuation of the series will be very difficult for his team.

"This series is over, we need a miracle. All the odds are against us, and every day it looks like there's a new injury."

The Italian head coach also gave an update about the injury situation of Delaney and Rodriguez.

"Malcolm suffered an abdominal strain. Sergio sprained an ankle, tomorrow, we'll do all the tests to evaluate how long they'll be out," he noted.

BasketNews asked Messina's thoughts about the amazing performance of Shavon Shields, who led the team to the victory down the stretch.

"Shavon already had a great season last year. He came from Baskonia, where he wasn't yet so decisive as a player as we hoped he could have been for us," Messina explained to BasketNews. "This season, he became even more important for us. This was probably his best game since he came back from the injury. It's always good to see these players giving everything they have from the emotional and leadership standpoint."

"For the next season, we want to come back to the playoffs and do even better than this season, the growth of players like Shields and Hall is crucial for us," Messina continued.

To finish the press conference, the Italian head coach also gave an update about the situation of Gigi Datome.

"Datome will try to train tomorrow. If he'll be able to play 5-10 minutes in the Italian league against Reggio Emilia, I'll bring him with us in Istanbul, and then maybe a miracle might happen, let's see," Messina concluded.

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