Ettore Messina celebrates his 62nd birthday, and his team gave him the best possible present - a victory in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season opener.
In the post-game press conference after the win against CSKA Moscow, Messina showed appreciation to his players for the defensive effort in the game.
"We started the game, and we were a little bit timid, but then we gained intensity, and the level of our defense changed. We allowed 29 points in the first quarter, which wasn't ideal, but in the entire second half, we only allowed 29 points, which proves how our defense took over the game", Messina said.
"Pippo Ricci gave us a huge boost defensively, and that really helped us. We also had a good contribution from Devon Hall, who played a very good game in the first half," he added.
Messina also praised Kyle Hines, who finished with 13 points and was one of the Armani Exchange's leaders.
"We're lucky to have Kyle on our team, defensively he had a fantastic game. We're also lucky to have a deep team so we can give Kyle some breath when he needs it."
Despite the victory, Messina didn't forget the episode when Milutinov suffered a knee injury at the beginning of the game. The Italian coach wished all the best to CSKA's forward.
"I want to wish good luck to Milutinov, he just got back from an injury. I also want to add that it was good to play again in front of our crowd, the fans were definitely a factor".
Messina celebrated his 62nd birthday today and thanked all the journalists and the staff for the birthday wishes.
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