The Real Madrid coach, Chus Mateo, congratulated himself on his team’s victory this Tuesday in the Euroleague at Valencia Basket (73-80) and he was proud of how they knew how to withstand the final pressure from the locals without losing their cool.
“When they got close to starting to score from three we kept a cool head and played what we had to play”, Mateo pointed out in a press conference in which he regretted that they had “the opportunity to earn more” but that his errors in the shot did not allow it.
“We have had a very good first quarter in terms of ball circulation and with few turnovers. We have found the rival basket very well and we have scored easily”, recalled Mateo, who pointed out that Valencia got into the clash “opening” to their pivots and scoring from the line of 6’75.
“At the end we were able to control the pace in a tough finish when they started to score with Sam Van Rossom and Jared Harper”, highlighted Mateo, who said that it helped “start passing the ball to those who were in white and not to those in orange and not lose so many balls”.
“It has been a great victory, because none away from home is easy”, said the coach, who did not want to personalize Dzanan Musa and Gabriel Deck. “When it is not one it is another. The two have made numbers today but we must appreciate the whole team, they all contributed”, he concluded.