Neven Spahija: 'Either we sign something good or we stay like this' / News - Basketnews.com

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

Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (7-17) suffered another loss against AX Armani Exchange Milan, their sixth in a row since they defeated FC Barcelona at home late in December. Another painful one on the road, where the Vitorians have not won since December 23rd.

Player of the Game EFF 23 Nicolo Melli Points 13 Accuracy 6-8 Rebounds 11 Assists 1

Baskonia's head coach Neven Spahija was clear enough in the press conference after the game.

"I don't understand why we missed layups in the first half, the players are lacking confidence and it costs us a lot," he began. "The team is suffering, we know why. It is very difficult to get out of this situation because we play many games in a short time. We need more time to assemble everyone."

"In the second half we reacted, we played good basketball. In the beginning, it was hard for us to find the rhythm, especially when there was one less point guard. We gave more assists and we lost because of individual quality. We get a lot of one-on-one baskets, three-pointers, and layups," the Croatian coach argued.

Asked if Baskonia could sign a player before the deadline, especially in the point guard position after the departure of Lamar Peters, Spahija was blunt: "Either we sign something good or we stay like this".

On the other hand, Milan's head coach Ettore Messina had a special mention for Carù, Milan's doctor back in the 90's who died last Monday.

"We honored his memory. He was an exceptional doctor, well-known around the world, but also a personal friend," the Italian coach explained.

Milan were up by more than 20 points during the game, until Baskonia cut the difference in the last quarter. Messina admitted he made a mistake.

"We played a great basketball game, both offensively and defensively. We managed a huge advantage. I made a mistake when I mixed the line-ups. I need to improve on that. Hopefully, Mitoglou and Shields will be back soon," he concluded.

Support BasketNews so we could make even better content.