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Besiktas Cola Turka
Head Coach
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ATAMAN, ERGIN
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"We didn't play that well in the first half, which was the toughest time for us. We needed to play better defense, especially against Shumpert on the fastbreak. We improved a bit and in the second half and played much better, but at the most critical point, we made a very serious mistake, on Galatasaray's last shot. I told my players to foul and obviously we didn't do it and we lost the game. Cuneyt Erden hadn't scored all game and he made that shot, so from now on we are going to be supporting Galatasaray. Unfortunately, today we didn't have that many players who played well. They didn't play as they could have and I can't say we played that well as a team. In the last few seconds we could have won, but unfortunately we made a serious mistake, and we can say that Galatasaray deserved their victory. They played much better than we did at the beginning of the game, when we didn't succeed at doing what we wanted, as you saw. Especially Kaya Peker wasn't on his game, so it's logical that we lost. Today, he certainly didn't help the team."
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Besiktas Cola Turka
Forward
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SHUMPERT, PRESTON
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"It is tough to come out and play well in a game like this. You have to play as a team and individuals are not really important. It is tough to lose in a situation like this. We fought until the very end and got the lead, but they had one more possession. Erden was shooting the ball poorly and not making shots, but he made the most important one. He didn't have time to think about it, he just let it go and hit it. We fought hard to make it to the Final Four and lost a good chance to win. We have to bounce back from this loss and do well in the Turkish League."
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Besiktas Cola Turka
Guard
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DALMAU, CHRISTIAN
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"It is very disappointing to lose this way but he hit a tough shot. We waited for the second half to play our game and should have done that much earlier. We had to be more aggressive in such as a situation. We lost two chances to win titles but we still have the Turkish League. We still have a shot for a title and hopefully we will manage to reach our goal."
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Besiktas Cola Turka
Guard
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APODACA, RICK
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WThis is sports and things like this can happen from time to time. Obviously, I am not satisfied or happy but we have to deal with this loss the way we can. We have not been able to win the Turkish Cup or the ULEB Cup, but we still have a chance in the Turkish League and we will do our best to please our fans.W
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Besiktas Cola Turka
Center
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DROBNJAK, PREDRAG
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"We had a chance to win the game, but we couldn't do it in the end. We had to come back from a 14-point deficit and it is a hard thing to do in the second half. We improved our defense and got our momentum going but they made the last shot and the game was over. We are now going back to the Turkish League and try to do better."
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Galatasaray Cafe Crown
Head Coach
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OZYER, MURAT
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"It was a very important game for our team and for our club, for a couple of reasons. One of them was that, after several years of trying, we became a ULEB Cup team, and to make the best four of this competition was very important for our club, considering that two years ago, we almost fell to the second division in Turkey. We have made a very big rise since then, and now we have to work at keeping stability on this level. The second point is that this was a derby game. Galatasaray and Besiktas have been playing each other for 100 years in all sports. It is very important for our club, the members and our supporters, to win this. Speaking of tactics, in the beginning of the game, we started three big men, with Britton Johnsen at the small forward, which gave us a very good advantage in rebounds and on offense. We had a good lead at halftime, but in the locker room we talked about Besiktas Cola Turka being a very good team that would come back to play harder, so we had to keep playing good defense and smart on offense. As we thought, Besiktas did play hard. We made a couple turnovers, were not shooting well, and they got easy layups. These are stressful games, and at the end sometimes you need luck. The luck was with us tonight. I have to say that my players worked hard until the buzzer, through all 40 minutes. We were able to get a big shot without a timeout. Big credit for that goes to Dee Brown and Chris Owens, who created the shot for Cuneyt Erden. He was zero for seven shooting before that, and for him to make that one made us very happy, of course. I want to say congratulations to Besiktas. They played a good game and are the leaders of our Turkish League, so I wish them very good luck in their season."
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Galatasaray Cafe Crown
Guard
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ERDEN, CUNEYT
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"The game could be differentiated in two parts. In the first half we played well, defended hard and they only scored 24points. In the second half they scored 36 and they came back. After a 0 of 7 in triples it was difficult to take the last shot, but the defense angle left me wide open to take it. I took it no matter what and we won. Now we will watch the next game and see who we have to face. We faced Akasvayu in the regular season and Gran Canaria in the Last 16, so we are ready for more Spanish teams!"
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Galatasaray Cafe Crown
Guard
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HITE, ROBERT
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"We had a tough game ahead of us but came out hot. We cooled down a little bit in the second half but Cuneyt made a big shot right when it mattered and took us to the semifinals, so I am excited. I just wanted to come out and be aggressive. I wanted to take my team to the semifinals and we all managed to make it. It doesn't matter who we face in the semifinals. We are going to go out with the same attitude and try to win the next game."
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Galatasaray Cafe Crown
Forward
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GAINES, CHARLES
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"It was a great game we played good at the beginning and at the end we kinda slacked out, we wanted to make it a little interesting. They took a two-point lead. We wanted a spectacular finish so we just wanted to get the crowd to cheer a little. No, now seriously it was a hard game. At the end we lost focus and they went up by two. At the end it looked like we could be goig home but Erden hit a big shot and we're going to the Final Four. It i tough but we're ready for that. We packed up bags to be here until Monday so we will practice tomorrow, try to focus again and reboot. We want the championship."
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