Check out what the coaches and players are saying ahead of Round 17 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.
Pregame quotes hub: 'ASVEL is killing all streaks'
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Friday, December 20
Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (18:30 CET)
Tomislav Mijatovic, Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach
"We are entering the preparations for the second part of our double game week of course against one of the teams that's playing in a high form in this part of the EuroLeague and their domestic league. We understand that a team that's coached by Mr. Obradovic who is super well-prepared for all possible tactical options, and we understand that we need to be at our absolute best physically, mentally, discipline wise and tactically in order to reach our goal which is to win the game. We will count as always on the wonderful support of our fans and in the synergy between our players, our bench and our wonderful fans, we are hoping to produce one more very important victory at home."
Dan Oturu, Anadolu Efes Istanbul center
"Partizan is a very good team. I think they've won the last five games in a row before this double game week. They just lost to LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in their last game. We know they are going to be hungry to come and they are gonna fight hard and play very hard. We just have to come out with the right mindset of mentality to be able to come out with the victory tomorrow."
Zeljko Obradovic, Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade head coach
"Efes is a team with the phenomenal quality and they are well-covered in all positions. The fact that a player like Larkin can endure to play practically without points until the very end of the game, fully submit to the team and distribute 12 assists speaks volumes about their strength. Yesterday we had individual training with several players who were ill and are recovering from injuries. We travel to Istanbul without Lundberg, Nilikina and Marinković, who are currently unable to help the team and will remain in Belgrade for therapy. Regardless, that doesn't mean we go there thinking we can't win and have no chance. On the contrary, we believe in our abilities and will prepare for the game in the best possible way."
Mitar Bosnjakovic, Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade forward
"Expectations are always high. After this tough loss, I think we need to rise up and come out of it as strong as possible. Our team spirit is always good and at a high level — that's what defines us. Whether we lose or win, we remain a team."
Zalgiris Kaunas vs. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (19:00 CET)
Andrea Trinchieri, Zalgiris Kaunas head coach
"ASVEL just won playing amazing in Belgrade, and we know very well how difficult it is to beat Partizan. ASVEL is killing all streaks. They won against Paris, they won against Partizan... They are playing with a lot of confidence, size, athleticism. Lauvergne, Maledon, De Colo... all players who can be starters or have a big role on any team in the EuroLeague. It's another game where we need to have mental discipline, tactical discipline; we need to execute, we need to know what to do. It's a game where we need once again to raise the bar of what we are doing."
Virtus Segafredo Bologna vs. FC Barcelona (20:00 CET)
Dusko Ivanovic, Virtus Segafredo Bologna head coach
"Barcelona is one of the best teams in the EuroLeague, definitely a candidate for the Final Four, but we have the goal of improving game after game. Every game we have to show more, especially in terms of energy and character."
Marco Belinelli, Virtus Segafredo Bologna guard
"Important game against a strong team like Barcelona, a team that comes from good performances like the last one it won at home against Fenerbahce. We know how tough it will be both from a tactical and physical point of view: it will be important to fight like we did in the last game, trying to limit our mistakes. We will have to play team basketball, both on offense and defense, ready to help each other until the end."
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. ALBA Berlin (20:15 CET)
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos Piraeus head coach
"It is always tough to play back-to-back games. It will be a huge mistake if we underestimate our opponent just because of their place on the standings. We need to adjust our game, because ALBA plays faster even than Paris. That is proven by the numbers. We must play well on both ends. We have to follow our game plan, shoot the ball well, and establish our pace in order to get the win. We play harder than ALBA, and that’s something we should take advantage of. We must prove on the court that we have a better team than them. I have to repeat, though, that nothing is a foregone conclusion in the EuroLeague. It needs big effort to get the win, no matter who your opponent is."
Sasha Vezenkov, Olympiacos Piraeus forward
"I do not really care so much about the MVP of the Round title. I only want the team to win. That’s the most important. To win, to improve ourselves, and to be ready at the right time. ALBA has had a certain basketball style all these years. Maybe they had a better roster in the previous years, but they still are a tough opponent. It’s forbidden for us to make the mistake of underestimating them. In my opinion, if we stay focused and follow the plan, we will get the win."
Israel Gonzalez, ALBA Berlin head coach
"Olympiacos is a team that has great EuroLeague championship potential. They have a lot of new players and needed a bit of time to find their rhythm and get into their rotation. But they have a very deep roster, identify themselves through an intense defense and have a great ball movement in offense. With Vezenkov, Olympiacos has one of the best players in the EuroLeague, who can make the difference at any time. When Olympiacos go on a run, it's super tough to stop them at home."
Louis Olinde, ALBA Berlin forward
"We are in a tough EuroLeague double week. We had the privilege of playing at home on Tuesday, but now we have to play away at Olympiacos. The most important thing for us will be to keep our focus 100 percent the whole game."
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (20:30 CET)
Ioannis Sfairopoulos, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade head coach
"Maccabi is an important game, we have to show a reaction after the game against Efes. A very dangerous team, which is offensively oriented and plays in a special way on offense and can easily score points. We have to be concentrated, to follow the defensive structure and plan, and on offense to be smart and use the advantages, find their weaknesses and attack them in the right way."
Joel Bolomboy, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade center
"The standings show that they are at the bottom, but that doesn't matter in the EuroLeague; anyone can lose. They are a good team, they have quality players, they shoot well, they play pick and roll... When you hear and when you see on paper [that Rivero is out and Gabriel is a game-time decision], it seems good, it seems we have an advantage, but at the end of the day, it gives an opportunity for the Maccabi players to make a breakthrough, which usually happens. Whatever it is, we will see. We will be ready, focused on ourselves whoever plays for them. They lack players, so we have to be even more ready."
Oded Kattash, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv head coach
"We are looking forward to a great atmosphere, one of the best atmospheres in Europe. They are a great team. We are coming off a loss and we need to respond. We are missing some players, it's not easy for us, but we need to be really focused and keep our good body language, which we lost a little bit in the last game. But we need to react, mentally first of all; we need to be ready for a really aggressive game, controlling the boards. They have a few scorers, but their forwards are really dominant, so a lot of post-up situations. They have a lot of smart players and a great coach."
John DiBartolomeo, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv guard
"They have built a really strong team this year. We are familiar with Ioannis and Vasileios and the type of basketball they play. We expect to fight, they're a really defensively-orientated team, a very structured team, and they have a great roster from top to bottom with a lot of talent. It'll be a tough challenge for us in this environment, but we're looking forward to it."
Levi Randolph, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv forward
"For us, just to continue to get better. We want to hit first, withstand the runs, and build a full game. There are a lot of ups and downs in the game, and our goal is just to withstand those runs and do our best to come out with the win."
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan vs. FC Bayern Munich (21:00 CET)
Ettore Messina, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan head coach
“We had one more day than usual to recover energy and understand if Leandro Bolmaro and Josh Nebo can help us in this game against Bayern. We were very happy after the Barcelona win and obviously we are not happy with what happened in Athens. But this is a very long, demanding and complex season, so we only have to look at this game in which we will face a team that has an excellent offense, balanced and well organized by Coach Herbert. We are also glad to see two special players again, Shabazz Napier and Johannes Voigtmann, who helped us win of two Italian championships."
Thursday, December 19
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens vs. Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (18:45 CET)
Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens head coach
"Every time, the second game in the double week is more dangerous and difficult. After the first game, we have some players with injury problems, so we won't have much of a chance to prepare special tactics for this game. We found our confidence, we played aggressive against Baskonia. It will be important to forget what happened in that game because Baskonia is a very dangerous team. They have incredible players on offense like Howard and Moneke, so we need to be ready to fight for one more victory that will be important to finish the first half of the regular season with 10 wins."
Omer Yurtseven, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens center
"We need to come out aggressive, I think that's what it's going to take. I hope Kendrick starts off hot again, I think we all do, and then things will take care of themselves. Just being aggressive on defense and offense. We didn't let them score in the first five minutes [against Milan] so hopefully we can do that again."
Real Madrid vs. AS Monaco (20:45 CET)
Chus Mateo, Real Madrid head coach
“AS Monaco are coming from playing very well against Bayern Munich and last week they beat Fenerbahce convincingly. They are in great form, they are playing really well and we know the quality of their players. Tomorrow's game is still a EuroLeague game that is always very demanding regardless of who the opponent is, but if we think about Monaco's form and the dynamic they are in, the game is very difficult. Monaco has a lot of points, but they also play at a good pace, they play very well as a team, they have many mechanisms acquired from previous years and, in addition, Spanoulis has given them a new look. In any case, we face this game with enthusiasm, trying to find the continuity that we have been lacking since the beginning of the season, but that we are looking hard for. Hopefully these two high-level games against Paris and Monaco will help us find the continuity we need."
Alberto Abalde, Real Madrid forward
“AS Monaco is a great team that has had a major change on the bench with the arrival of Spanoulis. They are a very difficult opponent to beat at all levels: in terms of players, talent, physique, style and level of play, which is very high... and we will have to do a great job to get a victory in front of our fans, which would be very important. We will try to make sure that their playmakers, especially the outside players, are not comfortable and that will require a good team effort to lower their averages, although we also have to focus on our own. I think that when we are strong and consistent in what we do we are a difficult team to beat and I think that is key to our growth."
Vassilis Spanoulis, AS Monaco head coach
"All I'm concerned about is training on Thursday and how we approach the game against Real. Everyone can dream, you can have big goals, which is our case, but we have to remain very humble and try to impose our identity as I would like. I've got a very good group of boys, who are always working harder and know what it means to aim high. We don't have time to train a lot, but we do a lot of tactical and video training. I've got a very receptive group, we want to progress and we have discussions about the way we want to play. All EuroLeague matches are tough, so that's obviously the case when we travel to Madrid."
Terry Tarpey, AS Monaco guard
"It all starts with the defense. We're confident, but we know that Real are a big team and we're going to give it everything we've got as a team, as we're doing so well at the moment. We're going to try and pass the ball around as much as we can. The fact that I'm playing again? It's thanks to my family, my teammates, they've always supported me, they used to tell me to play basketball and not think too much, so I'm happy to be able to give them a bit of happiness."
