By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
There was something on the statistics sheet of the game between Olympiacos and Khimki Moscow for Round 4 of the EuroLeague regular season, that particularly irked Thomas Robinson every time he read it.
It wasn’t his own numbers. Robinson had just posted a double-double by tying his season-high 19 points (shooting 8/13 from the field) and registering a new 2017-2018 record 11 rebounds in less than 26 minutes.
What made him feel so frustrated was the final score. 92 – 75 for Olympiacos. The first defeat of his team in all competitions this season after a 6-0 entrance (including VTB League games) was a nasty one.
“I don’t like losing bro,” Robinson told Eurohoops. “We shouldn’t have allowed them to beat us. We played horrible defense. I played horrible defense.”
Just minutes before, Khimki had left the floor after severely underperforming on both ends. Olympiacos had dominated the field, hitting buckets with remarkable efficiency, clobbering the visiting squad physically and outhustling them.
While the Reds executed their offensive plans to near perfection, Khimki’s connection to the basket was lost in the second half and Robinson and his teammates were overwhelmed.
“We shouldn’t come out so slow. We should play defense. Meaning myself. I came to Khimki to win. Not to lose. I’m not happy with this loss. We have to regroup and pick up where we left it,” Robinson said to Eurohoops.
“The next time we’ll see them (Olympiacos), it won’t be like this,” he added.
Despite producing a more than solid crop, the American forward/center was visibly disappointed, saying that his own numbers didn’t actually carry any real value. He felt he allowed his opposing big guys have their way inside the paint, which made him co-responsible for his team allowing so many points, thus getting beaten.
“It (his double/double) was fool’s gold. I didn’t really play that good. I played horribly on defense. I probably gave some of their (Olympiacos) bigs a momentum I shouldn’t have. So… points don’t matter.”