"We played well at times. However, we made simple mistakes in defense and failed to finish the game strongly."
As reported by İdman.Biz, LANDAU Lions head coach Erhan Toker made these remarks following his team's 85-77 defeat to Switzerland's Lions de Genève in the FIBA Europe Cup.
The Turkish specialist highlighted the absence of a key player, defensive weaknesses and the opposition's ability to capitalize on his team's mistakes.
"Playing without James Frazier, especially in games like this, is really difficult. Arnas Sakenis worked extremely hard defensively, but overall, our opponents took full advantage of our simple mistakes and gained the upper hand. There were moments when we were close to victory and showed a strong desire to win. Unfortunately, we couldn't achieve our goal," Toker said.
The Group G encounter took place at the Centre sportif de la Queue-d'Arve in Geneva, where the Azerbaijani representatives suffered their fifth defeat in six matches.
LANDAU Lions had previously lost to Lions de Genève (83-105), Prievidza (84-108), Bakken Bears (88-91) and Benfica (76-97). Their only victory came at home against Türkiye's Denizli Basket (94-86).
After six rounds, Portugal's Benfica and Denmark's Bakken Bears occupy the top two positions in Group G with nine points each. Lions de Genève sit third with eight points, followed by Denizli Basket in fourth with eight. Slovakia's Prievidza also has eight and Azerbaijan's LANDAU Lions has seven points, occupying fifth and sixth places, respectively.
