Igor Milicic: “We fought hard, but we made mistakes in situations where we shouldn’t have.”

Igor Milicic stated after the game:

“It’s one of those situations where you want to congratulate the opponent, but it’s not that simple. I believe we fought throughout the game. We made mistakes in situations that shouldn’t happen, especially in the fourth quarter where we were defending quite well. We finished the game with nine free throws, while the opponent had 23. I hope we face PAOK BC again this season.”

On PAOK’s rebounding advantage and the preparation time of both teams:

“I didn’t say the referees decided the game—that’s your interpretation. PAOK had seven days to prepare after their last game; they had enough time to recover, so we didn’t have any advantage. Rebounding is about how you attack and how you block out—we need to see how many of those were clear situations and how they created them. I’m frustrated that we didn’t enter the game more aggressively and didn’t use our fouls. I’m proud of my team, and I hope we meet PAOK in the playoffs.”

On the free-throw difference compared to the first-round game:

“In the first round, we played a very bad game. Today was different. They made more three-pointers than us, and we didn’t defend well inside the paint. These are two completely different games and two different versions of the teams. We played much better today. The atmosphere didn’t affect us—it wasn’t that intense. We played a fairly good game, though we could have done some things better. Some things were not in our control.”

On the team’s response compared to other crucial games this season:

“We are trying to change the course of the season. We’re playing a different kind of basketball. We are tough on the court, and the players show they want it—that’s why we achieved a winning streak. Going into the playoffs, I want my team to be tough regardless of where or against whom we play. We take it step by step. The regular season is not over yet—we still have Olympiacos BC ahead of us. I want us to finish the regular season as strong as possible and enter the playoffs with our heads held high to make our fans happy.”