I can easily say that the winner of this match will be the champion of the year in the Euroleague, as Barcelona will play Milan in the other leg of the semifinal.
You started the season badly. You have been away from Play-Off for a long time. Have you ever been worried?
“We started the season with problems. Larkin joined the team late because he had surgery. Most of the players were caught by Kovid alternately in the first three months of the season. We could not achieve a kind of balance. We also had serious pressure and responsibility. Because we were a team that dominated the league last year. We were disappointed when we started this way. This is a fact. But did we worry about it? .. No. I was sure we would play the same basketball after the team recovered. There was no reason why that wouldn’t happen because “
‘Trophy collection will be completed’
You have 3 European Cups in your career. Will the Euroleague cup be added?
“If I win the Euroleague Cup, maybe I will be the only coach to win all the trophies. But I am not after the trophy collection. We have been at the top of Europe for three years. We have always been at the top of the Euroleague. We want to be champions in the same way this season. We believe in ourselves and we will make it happen. Of course, we also know that all 4 teams are in the Final-Four with the same claim. Not only me, but our players other than Dunston do not have the championship. But now we played the last final and surpassed them.
‘We slept there, obviously’
You beat Real Madrid 3 times in a row with 25 points and went to Madrid. You lost the match while the full Final-Four ticket was coming in. What happened in those five minutes?
“It was unavoidably comfortable as we won the first two games differently. Unprecedented wins in the Play-Offs, the fact that the most important trump card of the opponent, Tavarez, was not in the 3rd game, we were constantly leading the game by 15 points, made us think that we solved the job easily. Both the players and we (the technical staff) said ‘Final Four is coming.’ But suddenly Real Madrid’s extraordinary 5 threes in a row turned the match. We also slept there. Maybe we could stop the momentum with two or three time-outs. The match is already ending, I may not have taken that break so that it would not be a shame. I took it in the last 1 minute, but we could not turn the course. Actually, I was very upset and angry, but we had another game two days later and I did not show my feelings.
‘There is no place to relax until the last second’
Can we say that your difficulties before the Final-Four have prepared you better for the CSKA game?
“Of course, I can say that it was useful when we sit here now. But at that moment we did not think so. We could have won the 5th game. We could lose the 5th game. It was a hard lesson for us. We learned that no match will be won before the end. This type of defeat is not compensated. We could have lived in the final game. At least we understood that. There is no place to relax in basketball until the last second.
‘A very tough match awaits us’
CSKA, which we lost in the final in 2019, is now your opponent in the semifinals. Can we say a rematch?
“When you look at the media, it looks like a rematch. But of course the CSKA staff has changed. There are different players. Our squad is the same. There is also a difference. We reached the final from the last place in 2019. It was a dream for us. It was our first experience. This season is different.” We have been starting the season with the championship claim for two years. We are here to be the champion in this Final-Four. We are facing the last champion. A very hard match is waiting for us. “
‘There is no difference in power, there is a difference in basketball’
What are the differences between CSKA with Mike James and CSKA without James?
“CSKA is a completely different team without James. Clyburn comes to the fore. Hackett takes more responsibility. They play a different basketball. When James was there, there was a CSKA looking at his hand. Now there is a CSKA with a team image and a good defense. Mike.” James is a great player. He is a player who can win games alone. I think there is no power difference between CSKA with or without James, there is a difference in basketball. “
‘German officials did not allow’
The Final-Four excitement in the Euroleague will begin today in Cologne, Germany. At Anadolu Efes, who will fight with CSKA Moscow today, the coach Ergin Ataman expressed his reaction before answering the questions at the press conference yesterday and criticized the visa policy of Germany … Ataman said: “In this press conference, the official publisher is not here at the moment. The German authorities did not allow them to come here. In Cologne, our players will not have families and no board members. Because the German authorities did not allow this. We show great respect to the EuroLeague organization, but we had a very difficult season. It was very difficult for everyone, everyone made sacrifices. Our players caught Covid-19. Despite this, we tried to perform a good game for basketball fans. Our expectation was to play at least the Final Four organization with spectators. There are fan matches all over the world. “
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