Idman.biz
"History loves realities, not probabilities".
Idman.Biz reports that this was stated by Vitali Stepanovski, the head coach of "Neftchi", who stopped fighting in the main stage of the FIBA European Cup.
The specialist evaluated the team's performance in the European Cup in his statement to Report:
"Today, we can talk more about probabilities. There is no need to compare these two games. After the match with "Sabah", we lost Marko Sinik, our playmaker, one of the main players of the team. Sinik played in the first match where we beat "Absheron Lions". But he was not in the second match. Moreover, it was not enough to win in the second match. The victory had to be with a difference of 28 points. Every game and point plays a big role in the group stage. The heavy defeat we suffered against "Trefl" in the first match also had its impact. The away game against "Kalev" was one of the most important matches, but our team was not in full strength due to injuries. Moreover, we could not use the services of our main playmaker."
The head coach said that they intend to make effective use of the break in the championship:
"However, we did a great job - we won three games and had a real chance to advance. I am proud of every member of our team and I am grateful to them. We are looking forward. Now there will be a break in the championship and we intend to use this time both physically and psychologically so that we can perform successfully."
It should be noted that "Neftchi" finished the I group, where it was with another representative of Azerbaijan, "Absheron Lions", in the main stage of the FIBA European Cup, in the second place. Although "Neftchi" won the first match against "Absheron Lions" in the group with a score of 104:86, they lost in the return match - 86:95.
