Final Four
- May 01, 2004
- NOKIA ARENA
Local time: 9:40 PM
TV
CET: 8:40 PM
|
Head Coaches
|
|
GERSHON, PINI
|
|
Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach
|
|
|
"It is important for us to reduce Skipper's average scoring, as they can make 90 points in any given game and even scored more than that twice against us. The one who manages to limit its opponents' offense will probably win the game. Both teams are high-scoring ones, but the biggest advantage is that we have been at this level before, and that will be a factor tomorrow. I hope not to depend on the last shot, nodoby wants that, but it's a possibility. In a game in which both teams can score more than 90 points, anything can happen. One good thing about Skipper, which also happens to Maccabi, is that each player in its roster in dangerous. For instance, Anthony Parker had a good semifinal game, but that doesn't mean he will play a good final nor that we cannot win if he doesn't have a good game.”
“You cannot depend on one player, and the team has to win at the end of the game, it's a five-on-five situation, not four-on-five but six-on-five. You cannot stop everything, but just a part of it, and the team who stops 10 percent of its opponents' game will be able to win it all. Despite the expectations of a high-scoring game, Skipper had some games in which they didn't reach the 80-point mark. Skipper wants the Cup as much as we do, and each player will know what to do when they arrive to the locker room. Our advantage is that we have been here before, experience is more important than being in our own home court. We need to play good defense and keep Skipper below its scoring average. We have been able to overcome the pressure all season long. Once you get into the locker room, you have to see each player's vibrations. One thing is clear: no matter if you are 22 or 28 years old, a certain impact is impossible to be avoided without experience. The more experience, the better you perform in these situations, and we hope to turn this pressure into success. We feel that right now we are the team of Israel, we cannot walk 2 meters on the street without being asked and feeling the people's desire in this Final Four. We represent the whole country, thousands watch the games in parks, people get together in houses to see our games. We were able to offer them a win yesterday and we hope to do it tomorrow."
|
|
|
|
REPESA, JASMIN
|
|
Skipper Bologna head coach
|
|
|
"I think that both teams are good and their offenses work very well. For me, the team who wins will be the one that has played better defense at the end of the game. The future in basketball is hard to tell. For coaches, there is only the next game. You have to win every day."
"You are right, we are the youngest team in the Euroleague this year. Eleven players are in the Final Four for the first time, and this will be a great experience for all of them. But we don't have any pressure here in this tournament and that's our big advantage. We just played one time here, three or our months ago, with the same crowd as tomorrow, and we won pretty easy. I hope we can repeat that game or a similar one."
"As I said before, both teams' offense works very well, but the team that plays better defense will win the game. It's diffcult to tell what will happen tomorrow. It's a new game. We will see."
|
|
|
|
Players
|
|
PARKER, ANTHONY
|
|
Maccabi Tel Aviv guard
|
|
|
"Who might be the MVP is not really my focus coming into a game. We come together, as a team, and we prepare with our scouting reports to do our best against any opponent. I certainly don't come into a game thinking that hopefully I can be the MVP. You play your game as well as you can and you hope you can come out with a victory. And after, someone else makes the judgement of who is the MVP. That's not my concern."
"I did compete against Skipper last year in Italy. It's a little different team this year, a lot better I would say, since they added some important pieces. But I don't think I have any more of an advantage than my teammates because I played in Italy last year. We played them twice before this year, and we have the experience from those games and scouting that will help us prepare for the final."
"I didn't choose to leave Italy as much as I chose to come back to Maccabi. Tel Aviv has become like my second home, a place I love, the organization, the city, the team and especially the fans. With the Final Four coming here, it was hard to pass up the opportunity to return. I was more than happy to come back to Tel Aviv."
"I have a good feeling about tomorrow. Like Pini said, we can talk about pressure or not, but no matter how old you are, when that the opening jump ball is ready to go up, you feel it in your stomach, I don't care whether you're 40 or you're 20. Both teams want to win. In terms of tactics, defense will be key. The team that controls rebounds and gets easy baskets running the floor will have it easier."
|
|
|
SHARP, DERRICK
|
|
Maccabi Tel Aviv forward
|
|
|
|
"It better be a different game than our last matchup here. We have to make sure they don't open get shots. Last time, we faced each other with no pressure, but this time it will be different. Skipper plays with a lot of freedom. Everyone has the green light to shoot. We will try to be right on them, and I hope it will be a different scenario this time. It is the last big game of the year and the most important one, the final, the big challenge to finish a great show, and I hope we can win the title."
|
|
|
VUJCIC, NIKOLA
|
|
Maccabi Tel Aviv center
|
|
|
|
"We know Skipper very well, we have played them twice this season. They have lots of players that can be really used. They love running a lot and they do that at a high level. In this kind of scenario, the team who plays better defense will have the biggest chance to win."
|
|
|
JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
|
|
Maccabi Tel Aviv guard
|
|
|
|
"This will be a hard game, just like every final I have played. They are never easy games. We have a great team in front of us to end the season, and they have great players at every position and a great coach who knows how to do things well. They have a great scoring capacity and our main aim will be to stop that. We almost have no time to prepare this game but we know each other well from the regular season."
|
|
|
BASTON, MACEO
|
|
Maccabi Tel Aviv forward
|
|
|
|
"This is the last obstacle, we are just one step away, and they have beaten us here already. Rotation will be important. They have mobile big men, but so did CSKA with Panov and Turkcan, Defense will be the key of the game. This is the biggest game of my career, even when I won a NIT title with Michigan, so I'm going to give all I have."
|
|
|
THOMAS, DEON
|
|
Maccabi Tel Aviv forward
|
|
|
|
"We have been playing really good defense lately, and we hope to do the same tomorrow. We have to get out there and avoid allowing easy shots for them, especially open shots. We have been working for that all year long. Somebody asked me at the end of the regular season who was the best team I faced and I said Skipper, and here we are again. It is going to be a tough game for both teams, Skipper opens the court with its big men and likes to run the break. They play our style of game, so the biggest key to winning is getting less turnovers than them and stopping their three-point attempts. They have a versatile team, but that's not a big problem. We have mobile and athletic big guys, too."
|
|
|
|
VUJANIC, MILOS
|
|
Skipper Bologna guard
|
|
|
|
"Tomorrow it will be a very tough game. Maccabi is a very great team with great players. But we beat Maccabi in the first round in Tel Aviv. But if you remember, we scored 15 three-pointers, so we cannot expect that again. We have to play our game and have the whole team involved. I hope tomorrow we can be a little lucky and for the first time in the history of Skipper, win this cup."
|
|
|
BASILE, GIANLUCA
|
|
Skipper Bologna guard
|
|
|
|
"There are adjustments that we will make against Maccabi that we didn't use against Montepaschi, but nothing changes too much. The key with them is the pick-and-roll. We can't let them do that all night. We have to find new solutions, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if we can do any better than CSKA."
|
|
|
SMODIS, MATJAZ
|
|
Skipper Bologna forward
|
|
|
|
"We have the capacity to stay in the game no matter what. That's been our strength all season long. Even when we fall behind 10, 12 or 15 points, we're still right there. Somehow, we manage to stay in every game. We know that if we can be close in the fourth quarter, even if we're behind, we still can win the game. We are calm in those situations. We want to see how they react when we make a little run. We just have to be there with them and see what mistakes they make. It won't be easy, but we're always in the game."
|
|
|
LORBEK, ERAZEM
|
|
Skipper Bologna forward
|
|
|
|
"This is where we want to be. In one game it's impossible to say who will win. I think we have confidence from winning here already, and they know that we've beaten them here. But it will not be easy. They are a team full of great players. They have a great player at every position."
|
|
|
POZZECCO, GIANMARCO
|
|
Skipper Bologna guard
|
|
|
|
"People say that Maccabi has all the pressure but this is the finals of the Euroleague….there is pressure on both sides. Just being in this situation puts stress on a team. And the difference between winning and losing is huge, so you can't take it lightly. It's true that it's already a victory for us to be here, but now that we're here it doesn't mean that it doesn't matter if we win or lose. Were we nervous for the semifinal? I think that it's only human. I'm more nervous for this game than I was for the semifinal. If you're not nervous to play the final of the Euroleague in front of all the people and all the attention and with all that is at stake, then either you don't care about winning or you are a stone. Personally, I take this seriously and live through these emotions, so I'm not just nervous. I'm also excited. It will be a great game."
|
|
|
DELFINO, CARLOS
|
|
Skipper Bologna forward
|
|
|
|
"As always, we're not the favorites. They have to win, they've got more expectations because they're playing in front of their fans and they were built to win the Euroleague. We're calm. We're happy to be here. Being here is a great result for us. We're just going to try and show what we can do. There are tactical things like stoppoing their fastbreak that we've got to be careful with because they depend a lot on their fastbreak. I'm not worried about how individual players play. The last time we played them, Parker had 20 points and shot 4-for-4 from the three-point line, and you know what happened? They lost. So we'll just try to get the win as a team like we always do."
|
|
|
|
Everything is set for the biggest game of the season in European basketball, as Maccabi Tel Aviv and Skipper Bologna will face each other in the Euroleague Final at Nokia Arena at 20:40 CET on Saturday night. Maccabi will have the home court advantage, a crowd of 10,482 fully in its corner, as well as the support of a whole country waiting on every dribble and shot. Maccabi's ability to make all that expectation a boost and not a burden will be one of the big questions in the determination of a new Euroleague champion. Skipper is less affected by great expectations, and neither will it have any help from the crowd, though that may not matter. Skipper has proven it can win at Nokia Arena, having beaten Maccabi there 89-99 on January 29 with an impressive barrage of 15 three-pointers. It must be remembered, however, that Maccabi proved it can out-gun Skipper, as it did in Bologna in November, winning a 104-111 overtime thriller. Despite the high stakes of playing with the Euroleague trophy at courtside, waiting to be lifted by only one team, a fast-paced game can be expected by two teams who can really fill up the baskets. High scoring has rarely been the rule in a continental title game, but with two teams whose offenses know no boundaries, the 2004 Euroleague Final should be one for the history books.
Maccabi's major concern will be preventing Skipper from playing its usual open court game and running the break. In its semifinal win over CSKA, Maccabi used great defense featuring an aggressive matchup zone that Skipper can expect to face in the final. Skipper managed to play the semifinal against Montepaschi Siena at the pace that suited it best. Head coach Jasmin Repesa won a tactical battle due to his versatile roster, which allowed Skipper at one point to play without a single center or power forward. Skipper's regular lineup boasts a superstar in the making, Carlos Delfino, author of 27 points in the semifinal victory over Montepaschi. Delfino played 41 minutes in that game, but was strong enough at the end to hit a big three-pointer and sink the winning free throw in overtime. Skipper played small in the semifinal because center Tomas Van den Spiegel was slowed by injury and scorer Hanno Mottola by fouls. Youngster Erazem Lorbek was actually the surprise starter, alongside Skipper's most consistent frontcourt force, Matjaz Smodis, who had 14 points in the semifinal and will be remembered in Tel Aviv as the author of 5 three-pointers back in January.
What makes Skipper's frontcourt difficult to defend is that Smodis and Mottola can rain shots from downtown and draw big defenders away from the basket. In the case of Maccabi, the big men are more traditional, and highly effective closer to the basket. Multi-talented power forward Nikola Vujcic is equally dangerous as a scorer or a passer working with Maceo Baston, who usually slams those passes. Both are key to a flexible offense that is one of the keys to coach Pini Gershon's success. Maccabi has additional frontcourt depth in David Bluthental, who didn't miss a shot while scoring 9 points in the win over CSKA, and veteran banger Deon Thomas. Both step on court and help Maccabi sustain a highly-competitive level near the basket.
Skipper knows that its win must include strong interior defense, which also means the visitors must prevent Maccabi floor general Sarunas Jasikevicius from distributing the ball to his liking. In Maccabi's regular season home loss, Jasikevicius suffered 6 turnovers, but in the semifinal against CSKA's renowned defense, he gave up just one while scoring 18 points and dishing 6 assists. Two of those were spectacular alley-oop passes to Anthony Parker, who kept Maccabi in the game early against CSKA, and then blasted off in the third quarter, finishing with a game-high 27 points. Both are proven players in big games and their experience will be counted on by Maccabi and its fans. Maccabi's backcourt is more than those two. Another clutch veteran, Derrick Sharp, saved Maccabi's season in the Top 16. Meanwhile, both Tal Burstein, with a huge triple down the stretch, and young sensation Yotam Halperin helped beat CSKA.
If Skipper's backcourt is somewhat less experienced in major games, it certainly doesn't lack for super talent. Milos Vujanic burned Maccabi for 6 three-pointers at Nokia Arena in January, and he has plenty of help. Oppenents know that starter Gianluca Basile can not only explode in any given game, but save his best for the finish. Gianmarco Pozzecco played great all-around minutes off the bench against Montepaschi and will have the chance to challenge Jasikevicius similarly in the final. A.J. Guyton joined Pozzecco with great production off the bench in the semifinals, meaning that Maccabi should be cautious to underestimate any of them. The top stars of the semis, Parker and Delfino, will be face off in a classic matchup that, whether or not it influences the game, is sure to give off sparks. Who among them makes those sparks set of fireworks will help decide whether Skipper Bologna or Maccabi Tel Aviv will be known forever after as the 2003-04 Euroleague champion.
|
|
Friday, April 30, 2004
Euroleague.net
|
|
Stats Comparisions: Teams and players
| 85.0 |
Pts. |
 |
VUJCIC, NIKOLA |
17.2 |
Pts. |
16.1 |
VUJANIC, MILOS |
 |
Pts. |
85.4 |
| 57.44 % |
2FG% |
 |
BLUTHENTHAL, DAVID |
69.70 % |
2FG% |
62.14 % |
SMODIS, MATJAZ |
 |
2FG% |
53.54 % |
| 39.22 % |
3FG% |
 |
PARKER, ANTHONY |
47.92 % |
3FG% |
43.75 % |
POZZECCO, GIANMARCO |
 |
3FG% |
37.55 % |
| 32.8 |
Rebounds |
 |
BASTON, MACEO |
8.2 |
Rebounds |
6.1 |
DELFINO, CARLOS |
 |
Rebounds |
31.8 |
| 16.2 |
Assist. |
 |
JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS |
4.8 |
Assist. |
4.6 |
POZZECCO, GIANMARCO |
|
Assist. |
13.4 |
|