Ivanovic: “We have to be more aggressive and play faster”

Baskonia coach Dusko Ivanovic pointed out that the team needed to “play more aggressively and faster” to develop, adding that not “depending on anyone” for qualification was “great for the team. That’s what I thought.

The Montenegrin player stressed in the press conference that the team is a “very good group of players and people” and that they have chosen to “find the best way for each of us to give our best.”

Looking ahead to this Friday’s match against Virtus Bologna in Italy (8:30 p.m.), he recalled the match at Buesa Arena, which the Italians won. “We have to draw a conclusion. We played good defense, but we couldn’t stop Belinelli,” he said. He warned that this time “it will be different because other players besides Belinelli will play better.”

Because of this, he suggested that he needed to “improve” his defense and “play faster and more fluidly in attack.”

“Virtus is playing very well. The players have been together for a long time and know each other well, so they automatically score a lot of baskets,” Dusko Ivanovic explained. “As a group they are very good,” he thought.

He emphasized the importance of players like Toco Shengelia and Marco Belinelli, saying they are “one of the best shooters and are very smart players even when they don’t have the ball.”

Baskonia will aim for victory in Bologna to move into eighth place and will have two options in next week’s play-in. Whoever wins against Virtus Bologna Baskonia will finish in 8th place and will face Maccabi Tel Aviv (7th place) on the first day of play-in next Tuesday for a playoff spot. The loser will get another chance on Friday to face the winner of Tuesday’s match between ninth and 10th place.

However, when asked on May 5th about the tribute the club would pay to Thiago Splitter, the Brazilian admitted that he is “one of the great players in Baskonia’s history”. “He deserves it,” he added.