Messina: We are not happy for the loss, but we keep building

Olimpia Milan coach talks with the media after the road loss against Barcelona:

Congratulations to FC Barcelona for a good win in the fourth quarter, in the last five minutes. At one point, we had probably zero energy physically, and we could not sustain the effort. They kept pounding the ball inside and that was their advantage. I saw a lot of good things by my team, so we are not happy for the loss, of course, but we keep building, and we will get ready for the next games. I could like to remember a very, very important friend in his city here in Barcelona, Mr. Toni Comas , who passed away some days ago. He was a great president of the European head coaches association, great president of the Spanish head coaches association, and a very, very good friend. I want to honor him in his city, and he was a friend also for FC Barcelona, an important person. It was a very sad day for a lot of people. We had some turnovers in the final minutes and they played more physical. We have tried to solve that problem with outside shooting, but lacked some frontcourt game, which Vlado Micov provided when he was guarded by Abrines. We managed to find some three-point shots and some plays around the rim through him. It is not an excuse, but we were without ‘Chacho’ [Sergio Rodriguez], an important, very brave player, which forced us to play Malcolm Delaney for many minutes, and while he was fresh, he played a very good game. It is past, and we move on”

The Italian powerhouse is seventh in the Euroleague standings with 7 wins in 12 games