Janis Sferpulos press conference after the loss to Barcelona

Janis Sferopulos responded to media questions after the loss to Barcelona. The Spanish team controlled the game from the first minute and secured a victory (85:76). After the match, Janis Sferopulos answered journalists’ questions.

He first congratulated the opponent and then analyzed the problems in the red and white team’s game. “We tried to change things up with different lineups, but unfortunately, they were productive offensively, especially in the first half where they made some tough shots. We missed some open shots and failed to capitalize on offensive opportunities to narrow the gap.

In the second half, we tried to fight back. We reduced the deficit to single digits but couldn’t cut it further. They deserved the win.

We need to continue to improve. Our issue was the offense, although the defense wasn’t enough either. We need to improve on both ends of the court,” Sferopulos began.

Branko Lazić only spent seven minutes on the court due to an injury. He had a muscle strain, and I didn’t want to worsen the injury. We don’t know the severity of the injury; the doctors will check on that.

“You’re right, we didn’t have energy from the start, but it was better in the second half. It wasn’t enough. You have to understand that we played four games, one of which was in the ABA League against Partizan, but this is a EuroLeague team.

We didn’t have enough energy, although it’s the same for other teams too. That’s the nature of the EuroLeague, you have games where one team wins by 20 points and the other loses by 20 points. There are many games.

We need to be more prepared in terms of energy.” Zvezda had more rebounds, including 16 offensive rebounds, and more attacks, but had a poor 3-point shooting (6/27). We didn’t have clear ideas; we had some open shots, if we had made those three-pointers, we would have been in the game longer and fought for the win.

On the other hand, Dario Brizuela shot 6/7 from 3-point range. This happens. We didn’t leave him open, maybe only one was open, the others were under pressure.

There are players who have such games; someone has a good day, and now you have talented players, and anyone can have a good evening and the best game of the season. “You know, in this kind of schedule, it’s not just up to us, but also the opponents. You have rivals who come and make all their shots, like Barça did here in the first half.

They didn’t have all open shots; some were open, but they were mostly under defense. This is the EuroLeague, teams are similar, it depends on when you encounter them, which is important for the result. We have quality, and at the end of this period, you’ll get what you deserve, and Barça is currently at the top, showing that they are worthy of it,” Sferopulos concluded.

(MONDO – N.S.)