"The opponent had a sitting team. The team preserved its backbone. Our team is almost rebuilt."
Sabah head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis said this while expressing his opinion about the meeting with Norrköping Dolphins club in the 1/4 finals of the FIBA Champions League qualification stage, Idman.biz reports.
Kurtinaitis emphasized that they should play more games to have a higher level of understanding between the players. Expressing that they need some time, the head coach nevertheless thinks that they performed well: "Our players did their best. There were moments when we were close to victory. But we could not bring the ending. I usually don't comment on referees. But in some similar episodes, we witnessed different referee decisions. The Swedish club was more accurate in 3-point shooting. We were lagging behind the opponent in rebounds. In terms of game discipline, Norrköping had a better effect. It felt like they had been performing together for a long time. The injury to Ender, who joined the game very well, reduced our rotation options. Towards the end, the team members were tired."
Rimas Kurtinaitis added that despite all this, they should look forward: "We will continue to fight in the FIBA European Cup. Teams like us who stopped fighting in the qualification stage of the Champions League will also participate here. This indicates the level of the tournament. Sabah is a new team. Your coming here is already a success. We have already become a member of the European Basketball family. Our goal will be to get out of the group. Time will tell whether it will be accepted or not. In any case, as in the meeting with the Swedish club, in every game you will see a fighting team that does not give up until the last second."
Idman.biz
