"When you arrive at the Top 16, it is impossible to find easy teams to face and our group looks, like the other three, quite balanced. CSKA is the winningest team in Europe over the last seasons and it's very difficult for anybody to play against them. In my opinion one of the two tickets for the playoffs is already reserved by them, so just one remains for the three other teams. We will not play just for second place, but we know it's a big achievement to reach. The most important thing for us is for all our players to stay healthy in good athletic condition, because at the end, these things and the small details in the games will make the difference."

"CSKA Moscow is unique, thanks to the great job done in recent seasons by the club and by Coach Messina. They have an incredible sense for the game and great balance in their play at both ends of the court. They play inside and outside with balance and are full of superstars able to stay in the team system."

"Fenerbahce Ulker is a powerful team, full of talented youngsters with size and athleticism, as Coach Tanjevic likes. These guys are full of energy, motiviation and enthusiasm, and push the veterans, creating a perfect mix. They reached the quarterfinals in the 2007-08 campaign and over the summer they made important additions with Giricek, Green and Smith, and could repeat the same results."

"Cibona is a team rich in tradition and pride. They are part of the history of European basketball. This season they put together a team with a lot of Croatian players, and this special heart of the team is following the club expectations, giving something special. We will play on their home court in our Top 16 debut, and we worry about their big motivation, so we need to be focused to start at our best on a very difficult court."

"It’s been a good season for us so far. You can say that the real season starts now with the Top 16. All the top games are coming up and everybody pushes each other more in practice. So far we’ve had a lot of injuries, with key players like J.R. Holden, Matjaz Smodis and Ramunas Siskauskas missing several games. Now we have the whole squad back together, hoping to have good success in the Russian League and of course in the Euroleague. We will see how the season is going to go. I had some adaptation problems in the beginning of the season, because the rest of the team has been playing together for four or five years. They are used to playing together and it took me some time to adjust, but everything is okay now."

"Montepaschi always tries to push the ball, tries to play fast and is always tough on defense. They have veteran guys that know how to win. The games against Montepaschi will be very tough, but I think we have more talent than them and am sure we will show more desire than them to win. I think that Montepaschi and CSKA are the two favorite teams in this group. I don't mean to disrespect Fenerbahce Ulker and Cibona, which are very good teams, but talent-wise, I think that Montepaschi and CSKA are the top squads in this group. Fenerbahce is going to be especially tough in Istanbul because of the crowd and atmosphere at the Abdi Ipecki Arena. They have some good Turkish players that also play for the national team like Omer Onan and Mirsad Turkcan. They have some good players and if Gordan Giricek is going to play, he is always dangerous. It is going to be interesting. I know Giricek very well. We played together in Cibona and have stayed in contact throughout the years and he is a very good friend of mine. I have not played against him in the last three of four years, so I can't wait for that to happen. Our first game is in Istanbul and is a very important one for us. Especially because if we win, we have a home game against Cibona with the chance to get a 2-0 record right before playing against Montepaschi twice. I left Cibona in 2003 and I have never played against them, so it will be a very special moment for me, going against all the players on the Croatian national team. It is going to be fun. I hope we are going to win, of course. It will be interesting. Cibona has played really well with a very good coach like Velimir Perasovic. They lost a couple of games at the end of the regular season, but I think they are dangerous. They have very good Croatian players, but good foreigners, too. Earl Calloway, Alan Anderson and Jared Homan are good players that know their role."

"Every year, CSKA has the goal to win the Euroleague title. The whole organization is about winning. This is a special team, CSKA is completely different from anything else. Everything functions like a big family here. It is a completely different experience. Here, from the cleaning lady to the chief statistician or people in the office are like family. It is really something special, I don't think anything like that exists anywhere else."

"We never had our entire team in this Euroleague season and paid a high price in a couple of games that we lost. We should have had a win that stood us apart. There were four teams fighting for two spots and you never know what would have happened if we had the entire team. It is not an excuse or anything, but you never know how things would have turned out if we had the whole team. In such a big league like the Euroleague is, you need to be lucky sometimes. We didn't have any luck and that didn't help at all. In some games, Kerem Gonlum and Kaya Peker played hurt. As you see, Mario Kasun is just coming back, Preston Shumpert missed some games and Charles Smith has played injured all season. Maybe Milos Vujanic and I have been the only ones that have been healthy."

"It is going to be an interesting group. CSKA is CSKA, there are always a strong team with excellent defense. I have played against them a lot. They may not look as strong as they were before, but nobody wants to be hot right now. As long as you click it right around Final Four time, you are good. The fact that CSKA lost some regular season games doesn't mean that they are not as strong as they were last season. Montepaschi kept a nucleus of players and the guys that came are team players as well. It is pretty much the same team, with one more year of experience. Last season, Rimas Kaukenas got hurt and Terrell McIntyre came back right before the Final Four, so I hope that this year they will stay healthy. I don't want to say that the are my favorite to win, but I definitely think they really have a good chance. Fenerbahce Ulker is a good team, too. Giricek hasn't played in the Euroleague and Omer Asik, the big young center, is just coming back. Fenerbahce is a tough team with a lot of big guys. Marques Green and Devin Smith are good backcourt players, plus they have some good shooters, too. Mirsad Turkcan has played at a high level for a long time... You can't really count them out. They will be competitive and if you have to get in their way, you never know what can happen. Cibona has a very good coach, Velimir Perasovic, who took Tau to the Final Four. Not only do they have a strong coach, but a very good team in good rhythm right now. They earned the right to be in the Top 16. Going to Zagreb is always a tough game. They always play the way they are capable of playing at home, and it will be a difficult game for any team to play."

"It is tough to make a prediction in this group. It is important to know the calendar, who plays on the road against who early, but I think CSKA and Montepaschi have a very good chance to advance, definitely. Personally, I have to root for Montepaschi and CSKA. I played in Montepaschi and know everybody there, plus one of my best friends, David Vanterpool, is now an assistant coach in CSKA. I have friends in another teams and I would like to see them do well. I really don't have a preference, but if I have to say who I would like to win the Euroleague, it's Montepaschi and CSKA."