June 19, 2013
Press Conference Quotes: Tau Ceramica vs. CSKA Moscow
Ettore Messina and Neven Spahija - Press conference - Final Four Madrid 2008 Tau Ceramica Head coach Neven Spahija:
“Good morning to everybody. It’s very difficult to say something after my colleagues. And I will repeat what they said. I am very proud to be part of this family, to be with my team at the best competition in Europe. I am very proud to part of the ULEB family and want to congratulations Jordi Bertomeu and all the people from the Euroleague organization for everything that they’ve done for basketball in Europe in the last 10 years.”

"There is not much to say about how to beat CSKA, because we are talking about the best European team there is. You have to play the best game possible, defensively and offensively, to have a chance. Tau must play its best game of the season, just that. The key is to respond to any details of theirs, to respond to everything. It's very difficult because they are able to answer everything you do, as well. Because of that, they are the best team in Europe. I think that my team is ready mentally, first of all. If we are tough, strong and compete from the first second and never give up, I think we can have our opportunity."

Tau Ceramica point guard, Pablo Prigioni: "I am very happy to be here. Congratulations to Jordi Bertomeu and the Euroleague organization and the Community of Madrid for organizing this event. This is something fantastic for us, the fans and everyone in basketball. I hope we will put on a great show for the people to enjoy and that all teams play well. And may the best team win."

“Well I think these last two Final Fours we arrived with many changes on the team. We changed coaches, we changed players. I think to be here you don’t need too much, you need to come to Final Four for important games with everything clear. The last two chances that we had to win, we had many problems. Now I think we have had stability all season and I think this can help us.”

Pablo Prigioni and Trajan Langdon - Press conference - Final Four Madrid 2008

CSKA Moscow Head coach Ettore Messina:

“Good morning to everybody. Thanks to the Community of Madrid and the Euroleague for hosting us and welcoming us for this competition. You may not know that this season is the 85th anniversary of CSKA, the club of the army in Russia. It’s a club that for your understands has won more than 1,000 Olympic medals. So you understand it is a great honor to represent out club in the Euroleague and in the Final Four this year. The only thing I can say is that we will be proud and humbled to try and represent our club and for all the Russian players to also represent the country.”

“The only thing I can answer you is with the words of Coach Tanjevic, the coach of Fenerbahce Ulker, who when he was in Italy used to say that experience is the sum of all the mistakes you made in your life. So it’s not necessarily a good thing. The first year I went to the Final Four in 1998 in Barcelona, I was a rookie coach and there were great coaches like Obradovic and Ioannidis and we won the cup. So obviously I don’t wish this performance on the rookie coaches at the Final Four this year and I hope my players will take care of me.”

“I think that it might sound strange, but I think especially in the Euroleague, the role of the coach is going back to the role that the coach had back in the ‘70s when it was really the center of the club, obviously he needed a big structure behind him, a solid management, people who were professional, but it was really about the coach, like it is now. Like you see, most of the clubs had continuity and the clubs that had success kept their coaches for three, four, five years and there was a mutual philosophy that the coaches and clubs shared. I think this is a big lesson. We had clubs like Real Madrid, like Ignis Varese and many, many others in Europe that kept their coaches together with a great executive And it worked, the combination of a great executive with a great – or considered great – coach. Honestly, I think if I’m here and I’m here many times, it’s because of great people I’ve had as management at the clubs where I’ve worked. Not only me and the players.”

“Of course to take title is always important for everybody. For every coach and every player. But honestly, every time I’ve been to the Final Four, I can’t think about a possible second game. I always say to my team that if you don’t win the first game, it’s going to be a final two not a Final Four, because you go home. For me the Final Four begins and ends tomorrow with game with Tau. We know that if we can in a game with so much pressure like the semifinal of the Euroleague to b close to our top level, we have chance to win. This is what we know. And we have to work in our minds and our legs to be able to play well tomorrow. If we lower our level, our chances of winning become slimmer and slimmer.”

“I am grateful to Trajan because he is one of the few players who has helped me to be good coach. Because you cannot always communicate with your players. You need some of your players to be able to translate to the others what you want to tell them.”

CSKA Moscow guard Trajan Langdon:

“Good morning. Like everybody else has said, we’re very excited to be here. Obviously it's the culmination of the Euroleague season. I’m really excited to have the opportunity to be here in Madrid. Besides playing Real a couple of years ago I've not had the opportunity to see Madrid so I'm really looking forward to it. I'd like to congratulate all four teams that are here. As everybody knows it's a difficult road to get here to the Final Four and to have a chance to win a Euroleague title. So we are very excited and look forward to great weekend of basketball.”

“I had a great experience playing for Coach K at Duke University and I consider him as one of the best coaches in the world. Obviously he coaches at a collegiate level in the United States, but he has a great influence on his players as well as his teams every year. And I’ve had the opportunity to play for Coach Messina for four years – three years here and one year at Benetton. And I had no idea who this man was before I got to Italy. After playing three years in Cleveland, I didn’t know. I had been told that he was a great coach, but upon playing for him that whole year, I gained a great amount of respect for him. And really have enjoyed the opportunity to play for him the four years. The way he gets us ready to play games, sometimes not all of us understand it but he definitely gets us ready in his own way. As a person, as a man and as a coach, I definitely gained a great amount respect over four years and proud to be able to play for him. So I would put Coach Messina and Coach Krzyzewski at the same level.”
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Euroleague.net
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