Messina on received feedback regarding heavy schedule: 'They ignored me, which is fine' / News - Basketnews.com

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AX Armani Exchange responded to a defensive adjustment that Ettore Messina made to stop Zalgiris Kaunasscoring engine Lukas Lekavicius. Unlike basketball authorities, who ignored the 2nd most winningest EuroLeague coach and his concerns over the European basketball schedule.

Player of the Game EFF 21 Kyle Hines Points 11 Accuracy 4-5 Rebounds 10 Assists 2

Last week,Messina argued that the current schedule is too toughon the players, and EuroLeague must find a way with FIBA.

"Last season, in the middle of the pandemic, I wrote a public letter, asking the top decision-makers in Europe to sit together and try to find a common solution," Messina said on February 1.

"The main point was to find a solution for the schedule because many players were suffering injuries and the quality of the games was going down. Everyone got mad. I don't know the solution, but I hope that in the coming future, there'll be the will to sit at a table and find a solution."

"The reality is the presence of many teams in the domestic leagues, in EuroLeague and EuroCup, and many national teams games too, so it's impossible to find new dates for the games," Messina concluded.

The Italian coach was backed by his colleagues Sarunas Jasikevicius and Andrea Trinchieri.

"The conflict between Euroleague and FIBA must come to an end. We are killing the players," Saras complained. "There are too many injuries. We sent complaints, but EuroLeague ignores us."

Asked whether he got some response from basketball authorities regarding this topic, Messina was very clear in Kaunas.

"No. At least nobody got mad. Last year, when I wrote a letter, everyone got mad. This year they ignored me, which is fine. I'm thankful for my colleagues who joined me," Messina said to BasketNews.

AX Armani (16-7) managed a hard-fought win against Zalgiris (3-19). Messina was happy with the road win 74-70 but admitted problems on the offensive end.

AX Armani Exchange Milan / Schedule

AX Armani Exchange Milan Fenerbahce Istanbul60-71 Zalgiris Kaunas AX Armani Exchange Milan70-74 AX Armani Exchange Milan Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-GasteizThu19:30

"It was not an easy game. Zalgiris have competed all year long despite their problems," Messina noted after the game. "Zdovc organized a good offense when they tried to take advantage of mismatches with Ulanovas on the post and Lekavicius' quickness."

"I think we managed to adjust our defense in the second half. We decided not to double team Ulanovas because we didn't want him to throw the ball to the 3-point shooters.

On offense, I think we created a lot of open shots but didn't make them. We didn't shoot well, which was a problem lately.

I wish good luck to Jure Zdovc and his team. We move on, it's always important to win on the road, and it's never easy to do here in Kaunas," Messina added.

Messina also emphasized the defensive change on Lekavicius, who ended up with 16 points, five assists, and 23 PIR.

Despite being the No. 1 option on Zalgiris offense, Lekavicius was isolated from the ball at the end of regulation, and Edgaras Ulanovas threw a few low-percentage shots in decisive moments of the game.

Ulanovas, who was perfect from the field before, missed both 2-pointers and a single three.

"Of course, you try not to have Lekavicius with the ball in his hands. We had a couple of big defensive lapses in transition because we pushed the ball to the baseline, and Lekavicius just went off.

When we changed the coverage on the pick'n'roll, I think it worked better because we didn't give up those drives on the baseline," said the Italian coach.

AX Milan, who are still waiting Shavon Shields and Dinos Mitoglou to return after injuries, currently rank 3rd in the EuroLeague.

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