Chus Mateo, head coach of Real Madrid, spoke to the media ahead of the first game of the quarterfinal series against Baskonia.
Real Madrid finished the regular season convincingly in first place. They had 27 wins and 7 losses, which is the best record in EuroLeague history.
“We get to these playoffs eager to face the final stretch of the season and eager to play well. We all start from scratch, and I hope we can meet expectations at all times during this series. We know how hard this final stretch is and how hard is the opponent we will be playing against.
We face the challenge with energy and optimism. Baskonia has many scorers, they are a difficult match and a team that plays very well. They have the character, the hustle, the fight and they always come back into the games when it looks like they are defeated. We will have to be ready for that and more.”
Real Madrid player Vincent Poirier also shared his expectations ahead of the quarterfinal clash.
“The most exciting part of the season is here and we are really happy to face it. In the playoffs you must never lower your guard. There are five games and if we do not start well we will have to keep fighting. We must be together, believe and do our thing, which is what we did last year. Baskonia is a very uncomfortable team.
They have quality players who know how to play against Tavares and myself, because they have bigs who shoot from beyond the arc and they open the court really well. They play fast on offense and forces you to run back behind. Baskonia has been playing that style for years and now it’s up to us to take a step forward. We must adapt to whatever is thrown at us and help each other out. Real Madrid also has its weapons and we hope we can use them properly.”
The game between Real Madrid and Baskonia will take place on Tuesday at 9:00 PM.