Coach of BC Dnepr Koval: Three quarters fought on equal terms, but failed under the pressure of the opponent’s physical condition

The coach of the Ukrainian champions also complained about the difficult logistics, due to which the team is unable to fully train and recover

Head coach BC Dnepr Vladimir Koval commented on the disappointing defeat from Sporting in the 2nd round FIBA European Cupas well as the overall situation with logistics during European Cup matches.

“We don’t have time to train, we play every other day, then we move to Italy, there are also 22 and 24 [октября] games. I hope that we will conduct several training sessions in Italy or somewhere in Poland, if we find a site. It’s very difficult because of travel, logistics, everything is very difficult. It took 36 hours to get to Portugal, and the very next day we played, this also makes its own adjustments. But I think the guys are holding up very well.”

“Impressions from the game with Sporting? Very positive. For three quarters we fought on equal terms with such an eminent opponent, who has six American players, while we play with our own students. I think we had a good three quarters, but failed under the pressure of the opponent’s physical condition. We couldn’t stand it, we played with limited rotation, and not everyone got into the game well. I think that a small rotation decided the fate of the match.”

“We will prepare, watch the video. We will change some things, in particular in defense. We’ll think about where we can add more, but I think we did a good job defensively. We need to add something in the attack.”

Let us remind you that in a nominally home match, which in fact took place in Lisbon, on the opponent’s court, Dnepr competed with dignity and on equal terms against Sporting for three quarters of the match. At the beginning of the third quarter, the Ukrainian team led 52:51, but after this there was a failure – a breakthrough of the Lisbon team to 17:0 and the end of the intrigue. Dnipro managed to only slightly reduce the lead at the end – 57:68 in the end.

Koval’s team got off to a bad start in the current European season. Let us remind you that first Dnepr lost to the Romanian Constanta in the playoffs of the European Cup qualifications on aggregate. However, the difference of “-11” allowed the Ukrainian team to become one of the three (together with the Belgian Charleroi and the Slovak Previdza) “lucky losers”.

At the group stage, Dnipro started with a crushing away defeat from the Polish Anvil (71:114). After two matches played, the Ukrainian team finishes quartet D with two points. In the third round, Dnepr will again compete with Sporting – the match will take place tomorrow, October 18. The match will also take place in Lisbon, starting at 21:30 Kyiv time.

At the group stage of the European Cup, teams play in 10 groups. In addition to Sporting and Anvil, the Italian Sassari also participates in the group with Dnepr. The winners of the quartets, as well as the top six second-place teams, will advance to the next round.

Source: Sportarena

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