Kyle Hines: Olimpia must keep fighting, I believe in coach Messina and the organization

Kyle Hines granted an exclusive interview to Sport Channel. In addition to reminding about his matches against Maccabi, and his love for Tel Aviv, the former center talked about his years with Olimpia Milano.

(via ROM)

ON THE LAST TWO EUROLEAGUE SEASONS

"It’s part of basketball sometimes. You can build a strong team, but for some reason it doesn’t work. People forget that we had a lot of injuries in the last two years. Our players got injured early in the season, and by the time we managed to recover, it was already too late. Nevertheless, we were very close to the playoffs and the play-in the last two seasons, so with a full roster maybe it would have been different. If we had made the playoffs, anything could have happened, as we saw with Maccabi in 2014. Maybe it was a matter of chemistry, maybe it was bad luck, but that’s basketball. Even though we did not meet our expectations in Milan, we still did good things in the Euroleague and for the club. We wanted to change the perception of the club in Europe and we succeeded. We signed high-level players, got to the Final Four. I think Coach Messina helped the club to take a big step forward."

ON ETTORE MESSINA

"Coach Messina is a legend, one of the greatest coaches in basketball history, and he deserves to coach as long as he wants and to lead Milan as long as he sees fit. He has brought success during his years at the club, and his method and approach have proven effective. I think Milan will be fine: that is part of the sport. You have to keep fighting and I believe in Messina and the organization."