Veteran point guard Toto Forray of Dolomiti Energia Trento checks in with his third blog post of the season on the heels of his team's impressive victory over Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar.
Toto Forray, Trento: 'We really miss our fans'
Blogs
5 Mins read
We needed a response after a big loss in Belgrade and played a very good game against Lokomotiv. We were not playing well in the Italian League either, so we needed a good game, no matter what. We started the game really well and our first and second quarters were probably the best of the season. We knew that they would come back a little bit. We actually talked about it in the locker room, that it may happen. We were focused throughout their comeback, too. We sometimes get lost when the opponent rallies, but not this time. We scored 43 points in 40 minutes in Belgrade and this time, we had 61 points in 20 minutes! When you are focused and really want to win, things are easier, no question about it.
We led by 28 points in the first half and Lokomotiv managed to get within 3 at the end of the third quarter. We needed a go-to guy and found Luke Maye, who had a great fourth quarter. Let's say that if would have been better, we wouldn't have lost almost all of our lead, but we knew it could happen. Luke is a strong, talented player and he's proved it a lot of times in practice and games. We looked for him in the final minutes and he answered pretty well, so we kept running our offense through him. It was a bit strange that he hadn't had a monster game until now. I am happy for him because he played his best game this season. I hope he keeps playing at this level.
"We had 61 points in 20 minutes!"
One of our youngest players, Maximilian Ladurner, also had a strong game. He has a lot of potential. He has been playing basketball for a long time and is learning fast. He practices hard and has a great mentality. I hope he keeps listening to the more experienced players and practicing. It is not so easy to be young and play well at the center position. In general, all the big men that he is facing are more experienced than him. He can have a great career. He has a clear goal in mind - to practice hard and be focused on the minutes he is on the court. Sometimes there are games in which he does not play so well, but he's always trying to get better.
I hope everyone is safe out there. Our social life is practically canceled, I am talking about me and my family. We don't do much, having little kids. It is hard at times, but my wife is great with them and every time she has a little free time, she takes them to the mountain or to places where there is no one else. The situation is not dramatic in Trento, but we decided to be isolated, away from social life. It is not easy to take all of the precautions when you have kids. If I catch the virus through them and take it to the team, it wouldn't be a nice thing. We prefer to take extra caution even though the overall situation is a bit better in Trento. Still, we are in a high-risk position.
"It will be a nice battle - two nice battles!"
Our next two games are against Boulogne Metropolitans. We have to focus on the next game, all the time. It is strange to play back-to-back games against the same team, but that may help you prepare a bit better. We are aware that if we win one of these games, we will be okay in the standings. We know it is difficult, but it would be a nice step forward to make it to the next round. The next two games will tell us where we stand: if you lose twice against the same team, you will be almost out, and the other way around, if you win both, you are almost in the playoffs. And if it is 1-1, you have to try to get the tiebreaker. We will do all we can to win. I am sure there will be a lot of scouting reports and tape in between games. I expect these two games to be very tactical. It will be a nice battle - two nice battles!
Playing basketball is a way to help people distract themselves a little bit. We are trying to give them a little bit of fun. So far, our fans are watching on TV and I hope we will have people back in the stands soon, even if it is a small number of them like at the beginning of the season. We really miss our fans. If everything goes well, our fans will be back soon and I hope we will still be playing EuroCup games when they are allowed to come back to our arena!