May 22, 2013
3rd Place preview quotes: Olympiacos vs. Regal FC Barcelona
Olympiacos
Regal FC Barcelona

PANAGIOTIS GIANNAKIS, head coach
"You have to play good basketball on Sunday and you have to learn something. For me, this is the most important mentality to becoming a champion. I think, as I said before the tournament, that every team from this Final Four could have won the trophy, and we showed that in the semifinals and how close they were. Tomorrow's game is going to be different and difficult, but we still have to promote basketball. For me, you work with you're mind, and you have to do that in this game, too. Every game is a different game and every ball a different ball. We have to build character from this game. I think we have to cut the rhythm of Barcelona. It's a team that likes to play at a high rhythm, and if we cut it, we can win the game."
THEO PAPALOUKAS, guard
"It's hard to play this kind of game, but we came here to give our best performance, so we have to work on winning on Sunday. It's not only about being third, but about winning. It's better to leave the tournament with a win. Barcelona is a great team that has had a great season. Last night they played another very big European team, but CSKA was better in the last quarter. Barcelona is a new team for us and it's going to be a hard game. They have a lot of high-quality players. We'll see. You don't want to forget last night's loss, you want to learn from it. Losses make you better if you find out what went wrong. Tomorrow we have this game before we go back to the Greek championship, and it's all important for us and our fans."
NIKOLA VUJCIC, guard
“This game is not important for its results – the only one that really matter is for the trophy – but people come to support us, people spent a lot of money and they deserve to see a good show. We will go out and try to play a good game. We had our opportunity and didn’t have our best day. The hardest thing in life is to get opportunities. We blew this one, but it’s sports and someone has to lose. Now we have to focus for our future. We know a lot about Barcelona, we watched them during the season and followed them. It’s going to be a very tough game. They gave CSKA a tough time and CSKA has played this year very good. I have played against so many of these players with so many different teams, so we know each other well. There will not be any surprises.”
PANNERO PARGO, guard
“You come here in mind to win a championship and when that happens it kind of lets the wind out of your sails a little bit. But I think once the game starts, guys’ pride will kick in and both teams will play hard. Barcelona is a great team and we won’t want to get embarrassed. I think we’ll have a lot of fans here and they may still have a lot of fans here. We still have a lot of season left to play. We’ll use this game as a practice and we’ll have to play hard and play to win. Another game always helps. I had a chance to play against Navarro last year and he’s a great player. Their team is great and it’s going to be a tough matchup.”
YOTAM HALPERIN, guard
“On paper, playing Barcelona is no less difficult than playing Panathinaikos. They are an excellent team with very experienced players. They’re very aggressive. It’s a good game to help get us prepared for the next month of games we have. They’re a different team than the one I faced last year with Maccabi. They have a few new guys that are very important. They play a different style. But we pretty much know all the players. We know who does what well and what they don’t do well. We’ll come to do our best to win and feel better. I’m sure if we win it will help to get over the loss in the semifinals. We came to win the cup, that didn’t happen. Barcelona is a strong team and we’ll have to deal with them for 40 minutes tomorrow.”

XAVI PASCUAL, head coach
"We put pride and good play on the floor last night, and after winning for the whole game, in the last quarter it escaped us. For tomorrow, we hope to recover as fast as possible to be able to repeat our playing level. It's always difficult to win such a game when you cam to win the trophy, but we will do everything we can to play a good game. Just to win is the mentality we need and want and will help us recover. Last night was very tough, this morning also. Now we've been able to train a little, and always when you train after a tough loss, you begin to recover a little more. I'm sure that tomorrow we'll have the mentality to come out strong in the game. We've been looking at the Olympiacos roster, long as it is, with lots of options, so we'll see how they plan the game tomorrow. For sure, they have their good big men inside, and Papaloukas, Greer and Halperin outside, as well as someone with the physical skills of Childress. It's a great roster. They are all capable and it's a complete team in which any player can hurt you. Friday's two games were very close and any of the four teams could be playing the final tomorrow. Unfortunately, it's not us, but I see both games as open tomorrow."
DAVID ANDERSEN, center
"If you ask any player they’ll say, ‘It’s difficult to get back up for a game after a tough game when you had a chance to win and you lose. It’s going to be difficult, but that’s why were here. You have to come out and play hard. It’s a game, so it’s part of the love of the game, I suppose you say. So when you go out on the floor, when you cross the white line, you have to be willing to play hard for your team. Olympiacos is a great team with good lineups and a lot of experienced players. It’s going to be a very tough game and I think an entertaining game. There are two motivations. One is to win to finish with a good feeling and two is to get ready for the Spanish League. We are trying to get our rhythm back."
DANIEL SANTIAGO, center
"I think you should be motivated for every game you play. As a basketball player, you play to win. We wish we could be in the championship game, but we just have to pick our heads up, go out there and get that third place. To me this game still means a lot because we want to finish on a good note and might as well finish with a win. We still have a lot of games left to play in our league as well, so we want to keep our good energy. Because if not, it could hurt us in the playoffs. When you have the opportunity to play, you have the opportunity to get better, especially against a quality team like Olympiacos, we should be able to get better and learn. They are a strong, athletic team. We have to be smart, they play, for me, a good power game. So it’s going to be interesting. I don’t think they shoot it as well as we do. The team that is the most positive and stays together and is the most concentrated is the team that’s going to win."
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Euroleague.net
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