Luca Banchi admitted that he had regrets about the way AS Monaco came back after being down by 11 in the middle of the second quarter. Banchi emphasized a lack of toughness and consistency in tough games for Virtus Bologna, the only winless team in the EuroLeague.
Virtus Segafredo Bologna do not have the best of starts in the new EuroLeague season. After participating in the play-in last year, they are now the only winless team after four rounds in the tournament.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
29
|
| Mike James | |
| Points | 19 |
| Accuracy | 7-13 |
| Rebounds | 3 |
| Assists | 5 |
On Friday, Virtus lost against AS Monaco despite leading by 11 points in the middle of the second quarter. In the end, the Roca Team ended up with a comfortable 16-point win.
"I believe we had a very good first half despite Monaco finding a very sharp night [beyond] the arc, and they continued to shoot the ball very well. The beginning of the third quarter with some difficult threes [they made] probably affected our confidence," Virtus head coach Luca Banchi said in the post-game press conference.
"We were not so intense and so precise like in the first 20 minutes. When you face such a powerful team, it's difficult to give such an advantage."
Monaco started the second half with a 10-0 run and quickly established a lead they never allowed the opponents to erase. Banchi admitted - he would've done things differently if the game was played again.
"I have some regrets about the way they came back," he admitted. "They had excellent effort after we were up by, I think, 10 in the first half. But you know, when you play these teams, you have to continue to produce your best effort.
"We tried to do our best, but if they finish with only two turnovers after 40 minutes, it means they played very high-quality basketball, and our defense wasn't able to stop their flow," Banchi explained.
Virtus will travel to the Serbian basketball fortress, the Belgrade Arena, to play against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in search for the first win next week.
"We need a better effort and longer effort to stay connected and continue to fight and compete in tough games," Banchi said. "Unfortunately, in the second half, we weren't as sharp as in the first 20 minutes."
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