How is the team? “I think that one of the consequences of that hunger is reaching several points above mental activation, that has been one of the problems. I see the team well. Obviously, everyone is sad and disappointed, not only for the results, but for not having given our best version. In the end, wanting to have a good performance leads you to have a bad one. That’s it. We are aware of the season we are having, of the goals we have achieved, that we are at a level of success well above the goals set since August 8. We are fighting for something that is fantastic, for a fourth place, we know who our rival is in the playoffs, and to fight for that home court factor. We will try to get into the semifinals. We have to be focused on doing the things we have to do, not on the consequences of achieving it or not. We have earned not having to worry about the results, but rather enjoying day-to-day life and forgetting about that extra pressure. We have already achieved important things in the first year of the project. You must not lose your ambition”.
Physical appearance. “One of the problems we had is that everyone had the extreme desire to be there, they have been overcoming problems to help the team and be in the Final Four, but we were not well. It is very difficult for Jonathan (Barreiro) to be here, Alberto (Díaz) is doing a brutal job to be able to be there, but he has to be well, feel good so that he can give his level, although his presence helps us; Dario has improved a lot. Then there are little things: Will (Thomas), Melvin (Ejim), Dylan (Osetkowski), Tyson (Carter)… Those of us who are here on Sunday will be fine, but we are not going to take risks like we did last weekend of being in a date like the Final Four”.
Remembrance of the BCL commitment. “I would like to see the image of the team that we had the other day, going down 17 and drawing the game, that is what we have been; playing well or badly, we compete until the end, make the game long, hold on. However, I would like to see more defensive and offensive solidity. Lenovo makes you see that you defend badly because they pass the ball very well, I would like to see a physical point in the team, it was not easy, and in general more joy. We are a team with a lot of energy and rhythm, that joy of playing in the open field, always running and not playing with their rhythm. Hopefully the image of the team will be repeated”.
Key to beat Lenovo by more than seven points difference to win the field factor. “No one knows what game there will be, in the end a thousand things can happen. It is clear that we need to speed up, run more, have a good selection of shots, have good rebounding situations in attack; That his game in attack doesn’t take away our energy, that we don’t come down, is one of his great virtues. We have to keep insisting on the things where we are good at. We have already played three times, we lost a game in Tenerife with twelve bad minutes in the second half, the one the other day must be put in quotes because of the situation in the second quarter. We have to recover our joy in the open field”.
The playoff for the title arrives. “One of the most beautiful parts of the season remains, it is clear that the last thing is going to leave us the last aftertaste, but we are excited. The season is extraordinary, extraordinary; because it could have been good achieving two objectives out of three, we have achieved all three, and on top of that we have won a title, with 10,000 people in the Carpena. The season has been extraordinary so far, we are going to see if we can give a little more. The team wants to reach the playoffs well, we are two teams that know each other very well, a factor on the field that can be diluted a bit. I wish the team would have had the feeling that the season is done because I think that in the Final Four we would have done a little better, I’m not saying that we would have won it. I really liked something Guardiola said the other day, when he was asked if not making it to the final was a failure for City, in the end it is contempt for their rivals. This is the same. To say that it is a failure not to play in the final of the Final Four is a contempt for the rivals, when in addition the team that won was the one that everyone had been talking about since November. If the team doesn’t play the ‘semis’ of the playoffs, is it that the team has let go? We have a team ahead that plays very well. This is sport. It is about giving your best version, trying and being there. How long have we not been there? We are going to be fourth or fifth, we will fight to enter the semifinals; They take advantage of us because they have been playing for more years than us, but we feel that we are very close to them. If it’s this year, great; if it is the following, we have to think that we are starting this project. If Laprovittola scores the basket in Badalona, what would we be talking about; if Kendrick hits the triple, what would we be talking about. You have to be there, compete until the end, someday it will fall on our side. The ambition of the team is to always be there”.
