Fernando Sá: “No more steps backwards from here on” | OneFootball

FC Porto hosted and defeated the Antwerp Giants in the first round of the FIBA Europe Cup in basketball, thanks to two free throws converted by Wes Wasphun with 0.8 seconds left in the game.

After “40 minutes of great intensity, responsibility, and resilience from the players,” Fernando Sá highlighted the team’s ability to “stay in the game until the end” and revealed: “Only those who are with us every day know the sacrifices the players who are fit have been making. We have a lot of people limited, a lot of people injured, and that makes the work of this team even more valuable.” Next up is Sporting (Saturday, 3:00 pm), and the Porto coach made a point of “strongly appealing for the fans to be present in the tough moments.”

Always Forward“It was a very balanced game in the way we attacked, looking for some outside options, but mainly focusing on the inside game where we had some advantage. Antwerp changed their defense, started helping on the ball side, and we took a little while to adapt. From there, with their full-court pressure, which we anticipated a bit, we delayed the timing of the pick-and-roll a lot and left the ball in the point guard’s hands under pressure for too long, so the offense ended up a bit confused. It was 40 minutes of great intensity, responsibility, and resilience from my players, and there can be no more steps back from here on.”

Inspiration and Perspiration“We have to stay focused, and when we lack inspiration, our commitment to the game can’t be missing. That’s basketball—a 20-point difference can be erased in three minutes. We were always very consistent. Even when the Giants took the lead, we managed to balance things again, unlike what happened in other games. Usually, offensive frustration leads us to make bad defensive decisions and we end up giving the opponent some advantage. Not today, we managed to find offensive solutions and stay in the game until the end.”

Sporting, Tartu Ulikool, and Sporting“We needed to win because this is a completely different competition from the others. The game against Sporting is for the National Championship, a competition decided in the playoffs. Only those who are with us every day know the sacrifices the players who are fit have been making. We have a lot of people limited, a lot of people injured, and that makes the work of this team even more valuable. Now we have to rest, prepare, focus, and recover our strength to face the classic in the best way possible and be able to win it.”

The Strength of the Stands“I really want to appeal for the fans to be present in the tough moments. This is not the best moment for the basketball team; we’ve had good times in other seasons and we’ve had situations where things didn’t go well, but the fans were always there. Right now it’s very important that they are here to help us.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.