By Mihalis Stefanou/ info@eurohoops.net
MILAN – Following a close win against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Unipol Forum on Thursday, Sasha Vezenkov talked to Eurohoops about the key stop in the final possession and shared praise across the board.
Dealing with an illness during Round 18 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, he scored 21 points en route to a Performance Index Rating of 21, both game-highs. He also passed the 2,500-point mark in Europe’s premier club continental competition.
However, the most important contribution was disrupting Leandro Bolmaro and the last offensive play for the team coached by Ettore Messina, to protect the one-point lead and secure the win.
“Despite being up by six points near the end of the game, we almost lost,” he explained to Eurohoops, “It was certainly a stop I wanted and should execute. I knew how to position myself against Bolmaro who is not such an effective pull-up shooter. So, I did my part for the team to win.”
With Nikola Milutinov unavailable for the team coached by Giorgos Bartzokas, Vezenkov was among the additional help in the center position.
“I do not like to drop names because everyone on the team can score 20 points, but Alec Peters was required to play in the five position and guard [Nikola] Mirotic, an aggressive player, one of the best in Europe. He also scored the free throws and the key three-pointers,” he praised his teammate.
“However, the rest of the guys, like Luca [Vildoza] for example, the players coming off the bench, they all helped in this win,” he added.
Improving to 12-6, the Reds currently share the lead in the standings with AS Monaco.
“We continue together. We know we must improve. We understand that we did not play to our full potential last week but won two games. Winning is good for our confidence and in the standings, but we know our ceiling and where we want to finish,” Vezenkov pointed out to Eurohoops.
“I think it would be wrong to focus on our current ranking. Every team is close,” he described the EuroLeague table, “We have a very tough month ahead of us with several road games and difficult opponents at home. It will be game by game until we reach our goal.”