Dusan Ivkovic: “We will try to play better in the second match...”

Defeating Karşıyaka 95-92 in the first match of the Turkish Basketball League play-off finals, now ahead 1-0 in the series, Anadolu Efes coach Dusan Ivkovic stated his thoughts at the post-game press conference:

“It was a match with two very different halves, showcasing a tough and high level game. Karşıyaka performed very well on offense in the first half, hitting nine three-pointers. We allowed 50 points in the first half. Karşıyaka had scored 54 points in the first half of their third game against Banvit in the quarter finals, and 51 points in the first half of their first game against Fenerbahçe in the semi finals. Today, we were trailing by two points at the end of the first half. In the second half, we increased our pace and played at a higher level compared to the first half. Both teams defended well in this part of the game. However, even though we were nine points ahead within the final minutes of the match, we missed the opportunity to win and saw the game into overtime due to our simple mistakes. We are a young team lacking experience. We need to keep working. We have to work well, concentrate better, and be ready for the second match. I would also like to congratulate Karşıyaka for their excellent, modern basketball. We will try to play better in the second match...”

Efes’s Birkan Batuk also stated his thoughts at the press conference: “The first match of any series is always hard. We were aware of that. Karşıyaka made it into the finals by eliminating Fenerbahçe, a team that advanced to the Final Four in the Euroleague. Today, we unfortunately had a lot of turnovers. We could not capitalize on fast-breaks as we wanted. We allowed 50 points at the end of the first half, and 15 three-pointers at the end of the match. The first match is definitely important, but that doesn’t mean the second match is not. We have to fight better in the second match. It will be really good for us if we go to Izmir leading 2-0 in the series. We will analyze our mistakes in tomorrow’s training, try to avoid them in the second match, and do our best to win in Thursday’s match...”

Tags:
  • TBL
  • Karşıyaka
  • Dusan Ivkovic