Sasa Obradovic explains Monaco's collapse, defends 3rd place game / News - Basketnews.com

Sasa Obradovic said that the team failed defensively and did not execute the concepts that were discussed during halftime. In the end, he defended 3rd-place games even though admitted that it's hard to play them mentally.

Credit: Erikas Ovčarenko/BNS Credit Erikas Ovčarenko/BNS

Olympiacos Piraeus registered a historic third quarter in the first EuroLeague semifinal against AS Monaco, outplaying the opponents 27-2. It was the first time in Final Four history that a team scored as little as just two points.

Player of the Game EFF 21 Kostas Papanikolaou Points 15 Accuracy 5-10 Rebounds 8 Assists 0

In the post-game press conference, Monaco's head coach Sasa Obradovic first wanted to highlight the effort Thomas Walkup did on the court.

Walkup didn't score a single point but dished out 7 assists. Even though he finished the game with just 6 PIR points, his plus-minus stat was the second-best on the entire Olympiacos team with +19.

"The real justice is when you see the player who scored zero points and dominated the game. Zero points," he said. "There was a leader there. He took the ball, he took responsibility, he played people on the spot. He destroyed it defensively."

Later on, Obradovic expanded on what truly happened in that underwhelming third quarter.

"We knew exactly what to expect. We talked [during halftime] to be strong, focused, and to respond with the same physicality they did. What happened in the first couple of minutes, we didn't run our offense, we failed," Obradovic said. "It affected our defense. We received so many easy points from the cuts. We were talking about this when preparing for the game."

"This is what gives them another kick to play even stronger on defense. We didn't protect the spots on the court, and we completely got lost," the coach explained. "It was hard to find the way even with a perfect play, a perfect plan. Everything was working in the first half thanks to our defense. We started badly defensively. For such a big opponent, for such a big team, you give them a chance, and it's enough."

After such a one-sided quarter, Obradovic said the

We talked about what I just said. [I asked] to raise the aggressiveness. We should analyze this but such a blackout happens really rarely on this level and this phase," Obradovic said.

"Still, even though we talk about this a lot, it's not easy to enter the court and change it. Usually, when you talk about this, you want to play better defense. We failed so much on this," he concluded.

The teams that lose in the semifinals will have to play for third place on Sunday. There are some opinions that this game should not be needed for the EuroLeague because it forces teams that just lost hope for the championship to play again just two days afterward.

"It's still a great chance to achieve something being in a historic spot that we are," Obradovic said. "Let's see how we regenerate mentally and physically. I still want to win this game. It's very hard to play for both losers. Still, the season is not over, winning this game still provides a good feeling to finish the season."

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