Andrea Trinchieri: It’s impossible to play against such defense if you don’t go to the line

A furious Andrea Trinchieri commented on Zalgiris Kaunas’ loss at home to Olympiacos.

“It’s impossible to play against such defense if you don’t go to the free throw line. It’s impossible for the level of contact and for how physical they are. … To me, it’s very clear. Then you lose confidence. We tried to attack, I believe that the [free throw] number says everything.”

“If you start scoring 3-point shots, they come over the 3-point line, you beat them, and you never go to the line, you cannot win the game. Mathematics.”

“I spent 2 challenges on episodes I shouldn’t challenge because they were very clear. 2 times, there’s no one referee, there are 3 referees, so I had big problems of communication. Then, I was trying to say, ‘You call 3 seconds on Smailagic.’ I trusted the referee, but then I counted 4 times, which was 3 seconds for Milutinov or Vezenkov.

“I tried to say that, of course, it didn’t go through, so the level of communication was below average, and that’s it. No technical foul,” Trinchieri said.

“The most efficient shots in basketball are free throws and threes, right? We tried to make them come out of the paint because they’re very big. And we did it — they came out, we beat them and… I can’t ask more from my players; look at the numbers.”

“Olympiacos has this defense that takes away all the joy you have to play: hitting, holding, grabbing. … Believe me, it’s very difficult. If you don’t shoot free throws, it’s impossible.”