By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Sergio Rodriguez helped AX Armani Exchange Milan stun visiting Fenerbahce Beko with an all-around 22-point performance (8/13 FG) as the Italian side prevailed over with an 87-74 victory. This marks the Italians’ first win against their visitors since 2014.
Milan has exceeded its winning streak and achieved its third victory of the season, while for Fenerbahce this counts as their third defeat after four rounds into the 2019-20 EuroLeague season.
Arturas Gudaitis’ presence was also catalytic for the hosts, especially when Fenerbahce reacted and made a 26-25 run in the third period after trailing in the first half. Although the visiting side had Jan Vesely and Joffrey Lauvergne scoring 14 points each, in the end, it was Milano’s team-work that sealed the deal.
Gudaitis finished the game with 17 points, Sergio Rodriguez had 22 and Amadeo Della Vale scored 15
Obradovic: “We are not a team”
For Zeljko Obradovic, however, Fenerbahce’s issues run deeper than its 1-3 start: “As a coach, you always try to understand some things. It is obvious that in my team there are a lot of quality players, but we are not a team. The reason for that is probably that we played without concentration. We opened the game in a very bad way, without trying anything we had prepared before the game. We allowed 21 points in the last quarter and had just one foul. It is difficult to play basketball, watching the other team score and having just one foul. We probably need to look at ourselves, it is not the first time, we always try to do this. Anything can happen, you can have a bad day, you can shoot the ball and not score, but if you really want to play and win the game, you will try to give everything, including a proper way of using fouls, and we did not do that. We played against an excellent team, so I understand it is not easy, but it would have been much better if we tried to play the way we prepared the game.”
Photo credit: EuroLeague