After Zalgiris' loss to Fenerbahce, Andrea Trinchieri expressed frustration over the disparity in free-throw attempts and suggested that his players might need to "put some mustard on" their approach to drawing fouls.
Zalgiris Kaunas suffered a tough loss against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in EuroLeague Round 22 on Friday night, blowing a 13-point halftime lead.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
24
|
| Marko Guduric | |
| Points | 20 |
| Accuracy | 4-4 |
| Rebounds | 2 |
| Assists | 3 |
Despite the defeat, head coach Andrea Trinchieri expressed pride in his team's effort and performance. However, he couldn't hide his disbelief over the disparity in free-throw attempts and how referees evaluated contact during the game.
"Playing this level of physicality, and the account of free throws is 32 to 14. I don't know how to help my team. We attacked, we attacked, and I really don't know how to help. The level of contact is... We suffer," Trinchieri told BasketNews' Lukas Malinauskas post-game.
The coach questioned whether his team needed to exaggerate fouls to get calls.
"Maybe it's all about how you show the fouls," he said. "We have to put some mustard on because I see [Nigel] Hayes-Davis shooting 11 free throws. Some of them were fouls.
"And I see we go to the paint and... It's a factor of this level of disbalance about free throws, or somebody is saying that we are not good enough. So, my goal is to work on it and be better. I cannot do anything else about us."
When asked if his team lacked respect from officials, Trinchieri was quick to clarify:
"No, no, no, don't use these words," Trinchieri responded. "It's a matter of where the game is going and how you read the game, OK? So we played amazingly in the first half. We had, I believe, 70% by 2-point shot, then 70% by 3-point shot, and then we started attacking, it's rare in my experience that when a team starts attacking the paint, it doesn't go to the free throw line.
"So they move the defense to the three-point line. It's something that I'm really working on, but I don't see the solution yet, and it frustrates a lot of the efforts of my players."
Zalgiris Kaunas / Schedule
Zalgiris Kaunas
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
Trinchieri highlighted the challenges his players faced in crunch time.
"Because in the clutch moment, you have [Lonnie] Walker. Today, he was a very good facilitator and made six assists because they were very aggressive on him, and then there's a lot of holding, a lot of physical game, and then he tries to get open, and he receives an offensive foul," Trinchieri noted.
"OK, but why is there an offensive foul? I tried to talk to the referees," he added. "They gave me two technical fouls. This is their job. I'm sorry for this. It's never personal, but I take my job very seriously. I want to help my players.
"I want to defend and protect my players because when you shoot like this and dish so many assists... What's missing? Maybe the message is that we are not good enough, so we will become better."
Finally, Trinchieri drew a colorful analogy, referencing American wrestling to describe the physical nature of the game.
"I'm proud of my team, really good basketball. For 30 minutes, they [Fenerbahce] could not catch us. And then when the game goes in WWE, we have to be better. We have to be better," Trinchieri said.
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