Papanikolaou: «Mental focus is going to be key»
Kostas Papanikolaou talked about Armani’s very full roster as well as about the mental focus that is going to be key in view of tomorrow’s (26/11, 20.30 CET) game in Milan.
“They are a very full team. Even now with Mitoglou injured, maybe someone won’t even notice during the game, that’s how full their roster is. When a team has the ability to have so many players of a good level, it automatically becomes even harder to cope. From there on, they also have size. They are a tall and strong team, while having Hines gives them the chance to play with different tactics, with switching, with strong hedge out, quick rotations and even when a center comes forward it’s like you have a guard coming up. All of that makes them a very difficult, unpredictable team and that’s why I said before that mental focus is going to be key in games like these. When you have to play against a team that has a roster of so many good players, you have to remain really focused to exploit any situation that comes your way and take advantage of any weakness or small mistake that will fall your way during the game”.
About the defeat against the ‘greens’ at the SEF, he commented: “It was definitely a bad loss. We lost at home a game to the eternal rival, but that’s it. It’s still November. There is still a long way to go to stay on a game and lose our concentration in view of what comes next. We have a very difficult game to play against one team that’s in a really good place right now, despite the fact that they have lost their two latest games. They are one of the best teams in Europe, in a good momentum and that’s why it’s going to take high levels of concentration and high levels of effort from all of us. We have to give our best to contest our chances to win”.
On whether he feels that the ‘reds’ have become more determined to react following the result against the ‘greens’, he said: “I don’t need to say anything. The important thing is how we react on the floor following such a loss. That’s the key. After Efes, we got to react in the game against Maccabi, however, it’s not a switch your turn on each time a bad loss happens, you can’t always have a good performance following. We need to start the game hungry, strong and focused and try to get the best we can from the game”.