“We should never lose them. It's the history of this sport in Romania”

On Friday, June 13, it was an unlucky day for CSM Oradea, which was defeated, on their own ground, with 68-67 U-BT Cluj-Napoca, in match 5 of the National League final. This failure has recorded the fourth final lost in the last 5 seasons against the group driven by Mihai Silvășan, after 2021, 2023 and 2024.

Cristian Achim criticized the arbitration again: “For me it is a shaded final”

After the party ended, Cristian Achim, that has criticized on several occasions the arbitration during this seriesmade it clear again with the position about the manner in which officials whistled first and fourth game And he understood that this is part of the history of basketball in Romania.

“It was a very beautiful match, between two balanced teams, as it was in this final. I am very sorry that we did not throw 33 free throws. At the match on their own so it seems to be. I am very sorry about the two lost matches, if you understand what I mean, and, for the world that is absolutely objective, we should have never lost them. But this is the history of this sport in Romania”, Declared the technician of the red lions.

“I do not want to take this from the merits of Cluj. They are a very good team, with good players, with good staff, with very good conditions. This has no connection, instead, with what happened on the field. For me it is a shaded final. I repeat, I am objective and I have arguments in this direction. Oh, that we could have been better today, that we could have marked the open throws we had? I agree, I agree. But we shouldn't have arrived here“He added.

CSM Oradea had the last possession of the confrontation, but the throwing of Kris Richard, defended excellently by Patrick Richard, did not hit the target, and the match 5 ended with the score of 68-67 for black and white. Asked what was the plan for the final phase, Achim replied as:

“We wanted to give Kris Richard's ball, he is our champion, he is the player who won us the match. We wanted to attack another player in defense, not Patrick Richard. Unfortunately, we did not manage what we set out.”

Cristian Achim, CSM Oradea/PHOTO: FIBA.Basketball

Cristian Achim: “Things, unfortunately, were not decided 100% on the ground. I assume what they say”

In the decisive party, the Bihorians drove for more than 30 minutes, while the opponents were in front for a short period of 3 minutes. This scenario has also repeated in previous parties, regardless of the final result:

“I know this. Let me tell you an even more painful one. We have an efficiency, as a team, of 80 and Cluj has 69. Let me tell you one more. We manage to keep Cluj three matches at 68 points, when they have no 33 free, to understand each other very well, and we lose 3-2. I repeat, things, unfortunately, were not decided 100% on the ground. I assume what I say, I take the swearing. Waves come, but this reality is. I'm not talking about this match. We shouldn't have arrived here. Point. I speak of the two lost, both lost“, Achim continued to mention about arbitration.

According to GSP.ro information, CSM Oradea would have requested the presence of a foreign observer to evaluate the performance of the referees during the final. Asked about this aspect, the coach of the Romanian vice -champion said that he is not aware of the subject, and Adrian Micinic, its press officer, intervened and said that the Romanian basketball federation invited a foreign observer, not the club in Oradea.

“I don't know that. I don't know about this, you don't ask me. I don't know this, I'm not in the theme. That's what you can ask someone else,” was Achim's reaction.

In the end, CSM Oradea's coach said that he is not going to carry on the accusations and that he has no point in publishing any video with the arbitration mistakes he identified:

“Does anyone bring your points back? I made video after the first match. And? It doesn't matter, this result doesn't come back. Do you understand? I made video after both lost matches. And? It doesn't matter. Once again I want to repeat this to be very clear. This does not mean that Cluj is not a very good team. But I think, this season, I was at least as good as them. That's what I think. Even if the title is with them, ”explained Achim.

CSM Oradea missed the opportunity to award its 4th title in the history of the club and remained only with the trophies won in 2016, 2018 and 2019.