By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It was quite clear before the tipoff that Anadolu Efes is on the rise, while AX Armani Exchange Milan has a lot of issues. However, nobody expected that Efes will get an 80-51 road win in Italy.
“We played with no heart and we disrespected ourselves and our fans, it’s really embarrassing”, said a visibly shaken coach Ettore Messina after the game, and nobody could argue with him.
Will Clyburn with 24 points led the charge for the winners in a game that was tied at halftime (34-34) and ended up being a one-team show.
For him, however, the most important thing was how Efes worked as a team: “Yes, we are acting together as a team right now. We talk all the time, especially on defense. When we successfully implement what we need to do on defense, things get a lot easier on offense. We are a strong offensive team, but our defensive performance makes our job much easier. I hope everything goes well from now on.”
Maz Mitrou Long with 10 points was the only scorer in double digits for the hosts who had 5/32 threes and finished the game with just 2/4 free throws.
On the other hand, Efes had 14/25 threes (56%) and dominated the second half with a partial 46-17 score in their favor, making the game torture for the home side, with Messina admitting that he is even thinking of resigning in order to wake up the team.
Even Efes coach Ergin Ataman was surprised by the way the game was decided: “Yes, the result of the match looks quite interesting. Before the game, I could not have predicted that it would end with such a score. I think Olimpia Milano‘s injury woes affected them a lot. We knew that they had some problems on offense, so we prepared our defensive strategy accordingly. In the end, our plan succeeded”.
Milan was missing Shavon Shields, Stefano Tonut, Billy Baron, and Luigi Datome but still, their second-half performance was a disaster as they dropped to a 3-6 record, while Efes surpassed them at 4-5.