Chus Mateo, Real Madrid: 'We played together today'

Chus Mateo, Real Madrid head coach
"We moved the ball really well and played as a team. We played together today. On defense we played smart. We didn't help too much on the big guys. Except for [Marco] Belinelli, who is an amazing shooter – how he shoots it's difficult to stop when he plays like this – we played really good defense as a team. I am very happy with the performance. It was a hard game where we had to pay attention from the beginning to the end.
“In general, we did a very good job. We played very good as a team. We controlled the rebounds, we controlled the turnovers and we played our rhythm on offense, finding open shots and good options. Going to the paint and passing the ball outside, creating. In the end, we finished with 15 [made] threes – that is good for us. And only 10 turnovers. The only bad thing is we missed 11 free throws. Probably if we had scored those free throws, we wouldn’t have suffered so much in the third quarter. But [Marco] Belinelli is a good player and we couldn’t leave him alone. He scored 2 threes in a row. I am very happy, because we had a very good performance as a team.”
Sergio Scariolo, Virtus Segafredo Bologna head coach
"They played a great game. Every time we got close they had two or three big shots or big plays in the air. You have to accept that they are a super, top-level team. But at the same time, I think in the second half we showed less fear. In the first half, I think we were less convinced that we could play. We were trying difficult things that typically don't work against size and top teams.
"I have to take my hat off to Real Madrid tonight. They played a great game at both ends of the floor. They were really filling the paint defensively and forcing us to take bad shots, which we didn’t want to do. That was our mistake in the first half. We were 4-of-18 on two-pointers and we had 40% on threes. We knew it would be almost impossible to shoot under their rim, especially when [Walter] Tavares was on the floor. But we still managed to get back to 8 points [down]. Then we had the crazy last minutes. But we fought. We played with pride, with commitment. We had some very good minutes in the second half. We were a couple of times very, very close to opening up the game completely. But the class of Real Madrid players – in this case, Mario Hezonja – killed the game with three-pointers. Some were not well defended, some were absolutely well defended. But he proved that he played many years in the NBA. And we have to accept that and shake his hand. In general, I think in the second half we showed our real face when we are committed, when we are together, when we play defense, when we share the ball. But our start was a little shy. I understand that Real Madrid is imposing in a lot of respects and of course we owe them respect, but you've got to try to use your weapons. Of course, we were short-handed tonight, but congrats to Real Madrid. They are a top team and good luck to them in the playoffs."
Guerschon Yabusele, Real Madrid forward
"When we came out in the second half we came out really strong to make the difference and secure the win. That was the key of the game. We were feeling good. We shared the ball and found the open man. Everybody was knocking down the threes today. It was pretty good for us, a good win."
Mario Hezonja, Real Madrid forward
"They are a great team and are very well organized. It looks like we beat them with our individual talent. We were all finding open shots. Chacho [Sergio Rodriguez] was penetrating and doing what he does. [Guerschon] Yabusele was having a great game. We were just sharing the ball and it just so happened that I was the open one who scored. But this is not enough. If we want to do something serious we need more than just individual talent. We are loaded with that. We know that we have some of the best players in the competition, but we need more than that."