COACH ALESSANDRO MAGRO’S PREMATCH: “I thank Graziella for the beautiful words, but for me it is necessary to take a small step back to try to see everything that has been done up to now. We started with great ambitions at the beginning of this new project and I feel objectively lucky if I think back to the season of 3 years ago and to have been invested with this great possibility and responsibility to try to bring Pallacanestro Brescia back to the place where we would always like to see it, that is to have the ambition of being able to compete with the big ones. At the end of the third year where there were ways to celebrate other victories and very important and exciting moments but also disappointments that left us with a bad taste in our mouths. We are here instead of on holiday since May 7th like last year, having had the chance to have a convincing first series against Pistoia, which certainly gave us a lot of confidence and made us return a little to what the pace had been during the season but which we had only seen intermittently. While now the great satisfaction of facing the strongest team in Italy at their home. A Euroleague team, a team that saw very few setbacks in the return round after the Italian Cup and it is useless to talk about roster and depth. It is a source of great pride and satisfaction to have earned this opportunity. We obviously lost in Milan with two teams that won’t be the same on the pitch on Saturday, we were missing Semaj Christon and they were missing Mirotic. I remember very well what I said to my boys after the defeat: “We have one match left to finish the regular season and then we want to earn the chance to come and challenge the champions on their pitch”. This must be the attitude we want to have and I echo Graziella’s words, our great victory is that of having rekindled the enthusiasm for this sport in this city which needs and wants to be excited thanks to this sport. The results obtained so far give us the push to go to Milan not alone, but pushed and supported by an entire city and we have the desire to be truly light-hearted, knowing that we have strengths that have allowed us to stay at the top of the rankings for many days, and we also have our defects like every team. We want to go to Milan with the desire to play our basketball to see if against the Italian champions if we will be able to do what we have always done: play seriously, be humble, get our hands dirty and defend, play together and try to see if it will be enough to try to keep up with one of the strongest teams in the championship.
Having gone into the coaching staff, Mirotic, Shields and Napier are certainly the 3 key players in Milan’s attack but the big difference is their defensive ability to try to suffocate any opponent, with Melli being one of the best defenders in the championship. If we are able to continue to play our basketball with fluidity and confidence even in the face of such a tough defense. Unlike the Euroleague Final Four, in the playoff series there will be at least 3 games, so it will be interesting to see what happens in Game 1, how we will be able to withstand the blow of the Italian champions away from home and from then on what will have to do to grow during the series. We will be at full strength and all the players will be available even if not 100%. We all deserved, the city, the club, the players and the staff the chance to continue enjoying the journey. So with a beautiful smile on our lips and with great confidence and great humility let’s continue to dream and enjoy the journey.”
Source: Brescia Basketball Press Office
