EuroLeague champions Fenerbahce raced to a 15-0 lead over Valencia, en route to an eventual 80-67 win on Thursday night, but there was one player who did not like the start his team made.

Luigi Datome believes that Fenerbahce suffered as a result of going up 15-0 as they suffered a backlash from Valencia, who would go on to open up a 47-39 lead at one point, totally taking the holders out of their rhythm.

“I didn’t like that we were up 0-15, then had such a big break,” The Italian said. “We suffered. But it is a part of the game, it can happen.

“But we stuck together and we have to do that every time, whether we are winning or losing. We started to make good choices on offence, moving the ball and finding the open men. Point guards were good in finding the right guy to feed and the right mismatch to attack.”

The win improved Fenerbahce to 11-6, good enough for fourth place in the EuroLeague table. It was their second win in a row, after two defeats before Christmas. They next play Panathinaikos at home on Wednesday and hop across to the European side of Istanbul, two days later to face basement side Anadolu Efes in a tricky double-week.
“We started the game in a very positive way, having a 0-15 lead in the beginning of the first quarter,” Fenerbahce coach Zelko Obradovic said.
“It was obvious Valencia will try to come back, playing on home court and in front of its fans. Our reaction was good in the first half but very bad in the third quarter. It is something that happens to my team a lot of times this season, and I am trying to understand why we have so many ups and downs.”

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