By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After all, Doncic had an amazing all-around game and sealed the game with a last-second shot from the three-point line.
Crvena Zvezda‘s coach, Dusan Alimpijevic, was pleased with the performance of his players and didn’t blame them for this loss. Doncic was just unstoppable and Alimpijevic recognized that: “I don’t blame Dobric (Ognjen) for the last play, he played a good defense. This is why Luka Doncic is a great player because he makes shots like these. We chased him the whole game and he still had the strength to make a shot like that. You think you stopped him but then you look at the statistics and see 24 points, nine rebounds, and ten extorted fouls. A really good player, a great team, and I wish them the best in the remainder of the season.”
He also compared the ending of this game with the last time the two teams met when Pero Antic was the one to make the winning shot, adding that their goal was to proudly stand in front of their audience and they’ve delivered: “This is why basketball is a wonderful game. We had that luck in the first game to win it with a last-second three-pointer, now it was Real’s turn. We played two one-possession games against them. Our idea was to proudly say goodbye to our audience.”
Pablo Laso was very happy to record his first victory ever as a Real Madrid coach in Aleksandar Nikolic Hall and congratulated his players: “Both games that Red Star and Real Madrid played this season were tough, congratulations to my guys, my players. We knew this will be a hard game despite Red Star having no chance for the playoff, and this is actually my first win here.”
When asked about the last offense and what was the plan, he said that it went as they agreed: “The idea was to look for Luka, he was the first option. We created a little bit of space for Luka outside and Thompkins (Trey) inside, and it was for Rudy (Fernandez) to decide. That’s where the coach’s job ends. It was hard playing without ‘pure’ point guards, sort of speak. Luka did a great job there but we lost a little bit of control when we didn’t make open jumpers and we turned the ball over. That helped them come back in the game.”