Under master plan

The game of Euroleague Top 16 first round played in Istanbul was not surprising. After shocking Fenerbahce-Ulker with small roster CSKA got another confident win.

Fenerbahce Ulker vs. CSKA: 48-66

Ettore Messina:

“Obviously it was a very important win for us. Even if it’s just a win – we need to forget about it and to prepare for the next Top 16 game. My players played excellent defense for 40 minutes. And doing that it is not easy to have also a clear mind on offense. But we had that clear mind for three quarters out of four. It wasn’t easy to play without Smodis but the team showed great mental attitude. We won on rebounds, we had 14 assists… I decided to play small ball hoping to open the ways for Siskauskas and Holden to penetrate. And it worked excluding third quarter when we those drives were blocked but we continued to try to score from the paint. Now we go home hoping to build confidence on this win.”