“In matches with top teams, you need to stay focused throughout the game” – Kocharyan on UNICS MBA loss

IBA General Director Igor Kocharyan in a conversation with noted that the team managed to show character in the game with UNICS and impose a fight on the opponent, but the Muscovites did not didn’t have enough focus for the final segment.

On Wednesday, MBA lost to UNICS in the United League regular season away game with a score of 66:74.

– At one point, it looked like the MBA players could make a splash in the match against UNICS, but in the end, the hosts won. Was their experience affected?

“It was a good tight game. The guys looked okay. They cannot be blamed for their struggle and character. Simply, I would say, you have to be able to mentally play matches with top teams like UNICS and keep your focus (the whole match). A priori, we defended quite well today, but we also have to attack… We have to break through such a tight defense, like the Kazan team. Well, they smeared a lot of free throws, lost the rebound… So there’s something to work on and something to add, and most importantly to be mentally ready to beat teams as great as UNICS, – Kocharyan told .

– But are you satisfied with the team today?

– After a defeat, you can probably never be satisfied, but in principle the guys showed character, showed that we were ready to play with big teams. If you have top basketball players playing against you, it’s great to be able to stand up to the best, compete with them, and as a result, grow yourself. If we compare the current stage of the season with its beginning, we can now maintain this same concentration for much longer. Now, we had probably already had the initiative to some extent, but somewhere they didn’t believe it, somewhere they didn’t succeed. There was not enough concentration throughout the match. But we will work. And so, I think, in general, positively …