MADRID, 18 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Real Madrid, Pablo Laso, stated this Wednesday that being in the ‘Final Four’ in Belgrade “speaks very well” of his team, at the same time that he assured that he believes in “‘déjà vus'”, remembering the title that the white team lifted in 2018 also in the Serbian capital.
“These are different years and different teams. I have already said it before, for me it is always a pleasure to come to this city to play. It is a pleasure to be in this ‘Final Four’. It speaks highly of my team, of my organization, of my players… I believe a bit in ‘déjà-vu'”, Laso confessed when asked about Real Madrid’s last European trophy, won in 2018 in Belgrade, in statements during the official press conference of the F4 of the Euroleague.
The Whites’ rival this Thursday will be Barça, in what will be the seventh match against Jasikevicius’ men this season, with a record for Laso’s men of one win and five losses. “It’s a new and different game, we’ve played many times, but every game is different. It’s a big game all over the world. The players will grow. Anything can happen. I wouldn’t be happy if we won the last eight games and not I would be sad if I had lost the last eights,” he explained.
“As a coach, we’ve won both games against Barcelona in the ‘Final Four’, it’s history and it’s over, for better and for worse. They are different games and there is more noise outside the game than in the game itself. It’s basketball , you want to win, but we understand that the noise around it is greater in a match like the Clásico”, he described above all what surrounds the Spanish Clásico.
Laso, who acknowledged that he was “focused” only on tomorrow’s game, faces this Thursday (9:00 p.m.) against Barça his seventh ‘Final Four’ as a Madrid coach “at a good time”. “We did not arrive at our best moment of the season. The best was before Covid until December, the team had 3-4 months of solid and continuous play, with everyone contributing. There we had the greatest sense of solidity,” he said.
“I make decisions since the first training session in September. I don’t know if they are good or bad. We were very solid against Maccabi, we played very well, and we deserved to go through. We are focused on tomorrow’s game, not on what happened before” , commented on the series by the white team, which opts in Belgrade to lift its third Euroleague with Laso on the bench, against the Israeli team (3-0).
Laso also had good words for Edy Tavares, highlighting his relevant role in this campaign. “I’m very happy for his career, he’s shown magnificent humility, he’s a key player for us. If we didn’t have Edy we probably wouldn’t be here and that speaks highly of him. I’m very proud to coach him,” he said of the center
Finally, he referred to former Madrid player Luka Doncic, now a player for the Dallas Mavericks, the team with which he will play the West final in the NBA ‘Playoffs’. “He’s a good player, but above all he’s a great person and that makes him great. I have no doubt that he’s going to play well, because he’s capable of adapting to any situation. I’m very happy for him,” he concluded.
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