By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Allowing only 18 points in the middle quarters, Anadolu Efes rolled AX Armani Exchange Milan, 64-48, Tuesday night.
The defense was the name of the game. Taking on the best defense of the Regular Season and despite having won only five games on the road the whole season, the reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions went up 1-0 in the Quarterfinals’ best-of-five series.
“It was a strange game. We played Milan’s strategy in the game. Milan is the best defensive team in the league, but tonight we played perfect defense,” claimed Ergin Ataman, “We were successful today in stopping the pick-and-roll offense, inside we didn’t give them any easy scores.”
On the offensive end, the explosive duo of Shane Larkin and Vasilije Micic combined for 32 points, 16 each in Game 1 at Mediolanum Forum. Game 2 will be held in the same venue in a couple of days but the home-court advantage has already shifted to the Turkish side behind a strong contribution of Ataman’s biggest stars.
“In these games, you just gotta do all the small things, dive for loose balls, get rebounds and really focus on the strengths of the other team,” mentioned Larkin, “We did a great job tonight on the defensive end. We gave up 48 points so we just gotta keep locking in on that side and I think we’ll be alright.”
“For us, it’s just 1-0,” added reigning season and Final Four MVP Micic, “The whole playoffs series will be very difficult. I guess people will enjoy it because it will be very tough. But just one game at a time.”
French Adrien Moerman threw in three points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Birthday boy Elijah Bryant tallied three points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Dogus Balbay was sidelined.
The team led by Ettore Messina restricted to catchup mode after the midgame break saw the deficit grow all the way up to 16 points at the conclusion. Despite getting injured late in the fourth quarter, Nicolo Melli’s ten points were enough for a team-high. Luigi Datome (knee), Konstantinos Mitoglou (suspension), and Trey Kell (leg) were out.
“We couldn’t buy a bucket. We didn’t play well on offense. We shot awful, and we also got depressed. And on top of that Nicolo Melli got hurt in his calf. So it was a very, very bad night,” said Messina, “Let’s hope to regroup and play the second one.”
Photo Credit: EuroLeagueBasketball.net