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Repesa: We are still a few weeks behind compared to others

Repeša is still building the kind of a game he wants, but that will take time - the next 12 days he will spend in Milan with the team. The question is, will what he's done with the team so far be enough against Olympiacos' aggressive defense

Jasmin Repeša is slowly getting the kind of a team he wanted ahead of the season. Milano have found rhythm, which was expect to take time and seem surprisingly well organized, compared to what we saw a few weeks ago. For Repesa, of course, their game is never good enough. The win by 10 points over Caserta was not good enough for the Croatian coach:

- We played badly against a team that lost their top two players. Given the complicated trips and the schedule we have, I can't be unhappy but we have to know that our game has to improve.


The time is right for that since Milano will spend the next 12 days home, which will give Repesa a chance to work with his team. We saw how much those kind of periods can mean (Real Madrid), which means we could see big progress in Milano's game in some two weeks. Repesa knows exactly where he wants that progress to be:


- We have to play better defense, then focus on rebounding and transition because we need as many free points as we can get. We have a team that can do all three, we just have to get everything organized. 


This might not be the best of moments for Milano to be meeting Oly but there are not easy games in Euroleague. Milano will be faced with a very aggressive and tough defense and it will be interesting to see how much their offensive end has grown and whether it can come up with some good attacks against the Euroleague runner-ups. 


- It's not easy playing them because they are physically very powerful and great in rebounding. They can still rely on Spanoulis in offense. We are still a few weeks behind compared to other teams but we have to fight - Repesa said.


Milano's game so far seemed pretty random. Simon or Gentile would take possession and tried to create something on their own. There was no game in the paint and no previously organized attacks. Stopping Simon meant stopping Milano's game, and Oly must know that very well. 


The Greek team didn't open the season in the best manner as they already suffered three defeats. The last one was in an away game in Vitoria last week. That saw them get very serious about the championship clash with Arkadikos even though it was clear that the rookies couldn't stand up to Oly in any segment of the game. The team from Piraeus had a 50-15 lead at half time after limiting Arkadikos to only 4 successful shots from the floor in 29 attempts. 


- We're happy with the defense in the first half. We allowed them to hit a total of only 44 points, which is good - Sferopoulos said and turned to the next game:


- We will need a very good defensive end in Milan, it will be a tough game. 


The defense will be the crucial segment today. It was precisely that segment in which Oly failed at against Laboral. Milano are a different team compared to Laboral. It is expected that Sferopoulos will ask his players to put as much pressure as possible on Milan's guards to try and force as many trunovers as possible, which has been Milan's greatest problem so far.


- We allowed Laboral to play their game and we have to work on avoiding those kind of mistakes now. We have to control the pace for the entire 40 minutes and play our game. We have to play tough defense and not let them find rhythm. I think our defense is the key to this game - Sferopoulos said. 

It will be a clash between two great defenses. Everything at Oly starts with a tough defense and after the defeat in Vitoria last week, Sferopolus wants his team to not make the same mistake. He will insist on them enforcing their pace on the opponent here. The game with Laboral is the only over at this margin that they had this season. The blowout against Kolossos finished at 150, everything else at 142 or under. When it comes to Oly, this margin is always a good choice, especially when they play a defense-oriented team like Milano. Repesa has a hard-working team, with a number of good defensive players. They have a few games over this margin but only one went over 154 - the one with Efes last week, after which Repesa said his team played horrible defense, mostly because of fatigue. There should be not fatigue today since Milano played the last game 5 days ago. Since both teams lost in the last round, the motivation will be high. Repesa talked about the importance of defense ahead of this game, just like the visiting coach. I think we're in for a great battle that will stay at under 150 points.