The stars and key decision-makers at the 2022 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four took the stage together for the Opening Press Conference at Stark Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
Final Four Official Press Conference: Real Madrid
Coach Pablo Laso and All-EuroLeague center Walter Tavares of Real Madrid were among them. Here are their answers to some of the questions asked of them by the accredited media.
Pablo Laso
"I wish [I could believe in Deja Vu], but it's a different year, they are different teams. But for sure it's a great city for basketball. I said it before, for me it is always a pleasure to come to this city to play. Great teams, great players, and a great city of basketball, so for me it is a pleasure to be here, in this event, the Final Four, which talks very good about my team, the organization, my players, everyone. And… I believe a little bit in Deja Vus.
"I make decisions since the first day of practice, in September. I don't know if they are going to be good or bad. What I know is that we played very well against Maccabi. It was a great team, they were on a run, they were winning games and they were playing awesome, but we played very solid at that moment, and we achieved this goal. So right now, I'm focused on tomorrow's game, I'm not focused on what happened before.
"We are in the same country so we play each other a lot of times, but every game is different. For sure there is a big game tomorrow. I think El Clasico is big for sure in Spain. but I think it is also big all around Europe, so I know in these games big players step up. Niko [Mirotic], Eddy [Tavares], all of them can step up. But I'm sure that both coaches are very confident in their players. Anything can happen, for sure. I wouldn't be happy if we had won the last eight games against Barcelona, I would think tomorrow starts a new one. And I would have lost the last eight games against Barcelona I would think the same way. Tomorrow is a different story for both teams. We all know it.
"Luka [Doncic] has been a great player since he arrived in Madrid when he was 13, but he's been a great person since that day. That made him so big. When people talk about NBA and he was going to play there, I had no doubts that he was going to play good because probably the best thing he has as a person, and for sure as a player, is that he is able to adjust to any situation and that's something that you have as a person. And Luka has it. I'm very happy for him and I wish him luck for sure.
"Secrets... Yeah, who knows what Saras [Jasikevicius] is thinking about tomorrow's game. For sure it's going to be something different, but what I can tell you is that if I leave Mirotic open in the corner, he is going to hit it. That's not a secret.
"I don't have too much to say about Eddy [Tavares]. I'm very happy for his career so far, since the first day he joined us, he showed great humbleness and a great work ethic. Nobody doubts his development as a player and I say nothing new if I say that for us is a key player. If we wouldn't have Tavares, we wouldn't probably be here, and that speaks very well about him. I'm very proud of him and of having the opportunity of coaching him.
"My experience against Barcelona in the Final Four as a player was not that good. It's better as a coach, we won the two games we played before. But that's all. For me, all this has ended. It's just history, both in the good and in the bad. They are different games, but for me, honestly speaking, there is more noise outside than inside. It's just a basketball game. Obviously, you want to win. But we would want it too if we played against Olympiacos or Anadolu Efes. Like they would. We all understand, though, as the main characters of it, that the noise and the excitement are bigger in a game like El Clasico.
"I think our best moment of the season was before the COVID, until December. I have the feeling that the team had 3-4 months of playing very solid basketball, with all the players contributing. It's not only about Real, but all the other teams went through a situation like this, even though we knew it could happen, plus several ins and outs because of injuries. But I also recognize we had bad moments, and that now we are in a good one, I believe."
Walter Tavares
"It just happened, I came at the right time and we won it, but every year is so tough to win. For us it is a pleasure to be here, just to be in a spot to fight for the title. So for us, it is a pleasure to come here, and to do it every year, to get a chance to win. It came in my first year and I don't know if it was a kind of luck to be here at the right time but I was super happy to win my first one here.
"Coach Laso's experience has a great influence on us. He takes care of the details very well and especially in moments like these when we used to do things much better. He is a coach that has been here for so many years and knows what it means to be Real Madrid, to defend the name of the club, and I'm sure he will do his best to make us be as well prepared as possible to seize this moment. "
"As a player, I always think we arrive in a great moment. I think we did great in the playoff. During the season it is normal to have some ups and downs because it's hard to be consistent. In the playoffs everybody knew we had to step up because if we didn't play well, we were going to be eliminated. So as Real Madrid, we always have to play well and step up in the big moments, so I'm happy to be part of it. They motivate me to be in this moment. We did a great [playoff] series, we won three games straight. We know we are here, we want to enjoy this moment, this Final Four, and try to win."