Spahija on Marinkovic: 'I want him to be more than a shooter' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix Credit ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix

Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz will not stop dreaming until the end of the EuroLeague regular season. They are just one win away from the 8th seed after a convincing victory at home against ALBA Berlin on Friday night.

Player of the Game EFF 29 Wade Baldwin Points 16 Accuracy 5-11 Rebounds 7 Assists 10

Vanja Marinkovic scored a season-high 10 points against the German team. The Serbian shooting-guard found his spot in the rotation, and for the second time this season, he played 20 minutes in the Euroleague.

Neven Spahija had special words for Marinkovic in the post-game conference.

"He was great tonight. I hope he will help us in the guard position. I talked to him recently about it. I want him to be more than a shooter," said the Croatian coach.

After a tough loss 48 hours earlier against FC Barcelona in a postponed ACB League game, Baskonia bounced back, getting their 10th win of the season in European competition.

"We showed personality and character," began Spahija. "I want to congratulate my players. We controlled 80% of the game. We struggled a bit with their zone defense, but we kept playing well," he added.

Baskonia ended the game with 24 assists and 39 rebounds.

"We did not allow them to have second-chance points. It's good news, and we must keep doing like this," explained the 59-year-old coach.

Spahija concluded the conference praising Rokas Giedraitis' performance. The Lithuanian was the top scorer with 22 points.

"This is the Rokas we want to see," he said.

On the other hand, ALBA Berlin's head coach Israel Gonzalez summarized the game quickly.

"They have played much better. They stopped us. We overused pick & roll situations, and we missed too much on defense. We were just 10 players, we could not rotate as we wanted to," he pointed out.

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