Coach Ettore Messina is a serious man and not one to give fans of his team false hope. With EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, even after Tuesday’s road win at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, still two wins outside the playoff zone with several teams in front of it, he knows the odds are stacked against his side. Nevertheless, a few lines he shared in his post-game interview were enough to remind Milan fans that the hope is very much alive.
Milan never trailed in beating Fenerbahce 75-82. The team's stars on the night were Shabazz Napier and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. The former scored 21 of his game-high 26 points to spark Milan. Luwawu-Cabarrot started strong and finished with 19 points, which tied his season-high.
Asked about Luwawu-Cabarrot's contributions, Messina responded: "Tim [Luwawu-Cabarrot] had a good game, but he's had already some big games for us. It's not easy for anybody to arrive in the middle of the season and get into the team and understand how you can help and what you should do. So today he had a very good game on both ends of the floor, offense and defense, and I just hope he continues like this."
