Giannis Kastritis’ comments following UCAM Murcia-Itelyum Varese:
«First of all, I want to congratulate Murcia and their coach: they deserved this victory. After so many years away, our return to the BCL was a decidedly ‘warm’ welcome and an important lesson for all of us. Our players tried their hardest, especially on defense, but Murcia was superior on both ends of the court. We have a great group that works hard, and we have complete confidence in them. We’re a new team, but we need to be more competitive if we want to win at this level. The absences? As I’ve said many times, we don’t want to make excuses. Everyone knows how much absences weigh on us, but we have to learn to face these challenges and move past them. It’s right to be critical of ourselves, as long as we do so constructively, to understand where we can improve and grow together. Every season presents its own challenges, and for us, this competition is a new experience. It would have been a mistake to expect us to be at our best already. Of course, I’m not happy with the result, but I believe that even a night like this can help us grow: if we can stay united right now, we’ll come out of this stronger. Finally, I want to thank our fans who traveled all the way to Murcia to support us and cheered us on again tonight».