February 08, 2012
Semifinal Post-Game quotes: BC Khimki vs. iurbentia Bilbao
Khimki Moscow Region
iurbentia Bilbao
Sergio Scariolo video
SERGIO SCARIOLO, head coach
"Let me first express my respect and my consideration for the Iurbentia Bilbao Basket team, for its club, its players and its tremendous coaching staff. They did a great job. I think one of the reasons we won tonight is we expected them to be so good and we came out immediately very ready to play, from minute one. We were not waiting for things to happen, but making them happen. We were ready to play, and after our great offensive start our defense set the tone. We played much better on the pick-'n'-roll as Mozgov stepped up to intimidate like he can. Bilbao caught us off-guard in a few transition situations when Recker hurt us. But our overall defensive game was more than correct and offensively we've been good today, too. Obviously, we are satisfied and happy right now to qualify our club for the first international final in its history. I, personally, and most of our players came with one purpose, to win championships. Now, we are one game shy of making it. We will have a very tough game tomorrow. Lietuvos Rytas is a great team, but we want it and we'll do our best to make it."
Carlos Delfino video
CARLOS DELFINO, guard
"My injury is still there but I managed to play two good games in consecutive days. When you start to play, compete and feel that you are helping, you forget about anything. I just try to help my team and consider myself a competitive guy. We always try to help each other, shoot the ball well and we are now 40 minutes away from our original goal this season. Everybody is happy and the most important thing is that we will play the final. When you feel good, you make shots and everything is easier. I was about to be asked to be taken out of the game but I show up and stayed because I was helping my team. We gave our best on the court and played great defense. Our goal - winning the Eurocup - kept us together."
MILT PALACIO, guard
"Aggressiveness was the key to win tonight. We came out 13-2 and knew that they are going to try to set the zone but did a good job against it. We knew they were going to make shots and when they set the zone I was afraid that things would change but we played good the whole game. I want to take teh final as a regular game, I don't want people to think it is the final and be trapped in something we are not supposed to. We have to take it as another game, take some rest tonight and be ready for another fight tomorrow. I just saw a little bit of a Lietuvos Rytas game but being from Lithuania, I am sure they are a patient ball club and a smart ball team. We have to be patient, because we may not hit shots like we did in the first half. If we stay together, I think we have a pretty good chance."
JORGE GARBAJOSA, forward
"We knew that we had to play with high intensity because we have seen Bilbao all season and especially yesterday. They came motivated, backed by outstanding fans. We knew they would play hard and that if we didn't match their intensity, we would probably lose. We managed to do our job a little bit better than them. My injury is long gone, there are days where you play better or worse, but every day you have to try to help your team. If you have a good day, you can try to take advantage and if not, there are a million things to do on a basketball court. Both teams have played two very tough games this weekend and it will be complicated. It is a intense team with mobile, strong big guys. They have great shooters, like all Lithuanian teams. It will be a tough game but well, we are in the final, it is what we expected after all."
TIMOFEY MOZGOV, center
"I can’t find words to describe how happy I am that our team made it to the final for the first time. I am not quite satisfied with the way I played myself, I can play better, but the main thing is that our team won. It’s nice to know that I set the Final Eight blocks record, but now we have to get prepared for the final game. We have to make the analyze our opponent, rest ourselves and get on the court with the same determination, the same energy and the same aggressiveness and play even better on both defense and offense."
VITALY FRIDZON, forward
"The key moment tonight was the beginning of the game, when we overpowered them and didn’t let them feel their aggressive style. Tonight’s game was easier than yesterday’s. It was hard to arrive here and play right away with a strong team like Pamesa. Today we had better flow in our game. But Bilbao has very good basketball players, and they showed that they can play and even made it tough for us in the very end by hitting a couple of three-pointers. We overcame so much to make it to the final, and both teams know that the price of a mistake will be very high."
TXUS VIDORRETA, head coach
"It was a tough, tough game for us. They started incredible with a 13-2 start thanks to a big Garbajosa and a big Fridzon in the first quarter. But our spirit and our job after that in the first half allowed us to come back to within only five points down at halftime. In the third quarter, we had many opportunities to tie the game, At that time, we were playing well: passing, making assists, and getting easy makes. Then they closed better the paint and we had many problems to finish against Mozgov and Lampe. If you don't make shots in easy situations, there is only one other option, the three-pointer, and until the final part, only Lucas Recker made them. We faced a big advantage and came back again, but for us it was difficult to stop the game with only two fouls, and they finished with two layups. I am very satisfied with our job during the two days and all during the Euroucup in this, our first season in Europe. Our behavior was not that of a rookie, and when we come back to Europe, we will have big experience."
MARKO BANIC, forward
They were a better team during the game, they had an advantage of 5-7 points and we couldn't break that. But we can be proud ofour game, we played a very good tournament, and first of all, I need to say thanks to our fans. They were very, very good today. Khimki's experience probably plaid a role - they were always able to find good solutions at very important moments. They have a very good team and we just met a better team today, but like I already said, we can be proud with our game - we lost with dignity. It was a good experience for us here, and we will keep working.
DRAGO PASALIC, center
We knew that they are a great team, but we believed that we can beat them - that's why we came here. Of course, they have great players, and they built a lead in the first minutes that we tried to catch all the game. It was difficult, but I think in the end we can be satisfied. This is our first year in Europe, and in the end we made it to the best four teams in Eurocup. We cannot be disappointed - we can be happy with what we did this year. It was incredible these last days, the city was living with us for this tournament. Our fans came here to cheer for us and I would like to thank all of them, they are just great fans.
LUKE RECKER, forward
I think we accomplished a lot by going to the Final Four of the Eurocup in our first European competition. It means a lot to our team, to our city and to our club. We are very proud of this, but tonight we fell against a great team - unfortunately, we came up a little short. Three-pointers were the key tonight. They made many threes, and Delfino hit some big shots for them. Unfortunately, we weren't able to overcome that, so we wish them luck. Catching up all night is difficult. Last night, we were lucky to set up for the lead and tonight it was the opposite. It is tough to keep coming back against a great team like Khimki. Loosing tonight was very disappointing. We wanted to go to the final and ensure that we will play in Europe next year. It was a great experience for us in Europe and hopefully, we can do our job in the ACB and get back here.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Eurocupbasketball.com
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