Scariolo: "When we were down, we responded aggressively"
"I think the difference was in the rebounding; that's what tipped the balance in our favour," added the coach.
Sergio Scariolo spoke in the press conference after his side secured their place in the final of the 2025 Endesa Super Cup. The coach had this to say: “It was a very even match, with both teams performing practically equally well to win it. I really liked the way that, when we were 15 points down, we managed to respond aggressively and with good defence.”
“In the second half, La Laguna Tenerife scored 26 points, which is a good number. I think the difference was in the rebounding; that's what tipped the balance in our favour.”
Praise for the opposition
“Congratulations to Tenerife for how they have been playing in recent years. Their seasoned veterans are extremely difficult to stop.”
On the game
“I also want to congratulate my players, because they showed their desire to stay in the game and their competitiveness. Obviously, we lacked fluidity and will be lacking it for a while. It was a game we weren't going to win in attack; we still have a long way to go, but defensively we're doing pretty well. We still conceded in the second quarter, but in the rest of the game we played well.”
On Deck’s return
“It wasn't an easy decision, but as a coach you have to have that instinct to watch the training sessions and understand what kind of match you're up against. For a match like this, a player with experience, competitiveness and the composure not to make mistakes can make all the difference. And that's what he did.”