Check out what the coaches and players are saying ahead of Game 3 of the 2025 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs
Playoffs pregame quotes, Game 3: 'We are going for both games'
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6 Min lectura
Wednesday, April 30
FC Barcelona vs. AS Monaco (19:00 CEST)
Joan Peñarroya, FC Barcelona head coach
"First of all, we have to focus exclusively on [Game 3], without looking any further. We have to play a good game against an opponent that has been better than us last week. If we do things right, I am convinced that we can win, especially playing at Palau Blaugrana, in front of our people. In playoff games, their support is noticed even more. Monaco is a physical team because of its players are really athletic. We knew that: there are many teams that play this way, even when they don't have such a deep roster as Monaco. We have to be smarter and take a step forward in situations in which we can do better. We are also a physical team, but many times, physicality is not the key, but reading the game well, being ready and focused on our game, not on how they force us to play. Jan [Vesely] is doubtful: he is trying but it looks difficult that he will be able to help us. We know how they play and how we want to play. It is a playoff game and everyone has its weapons. They took the first two games where they wanted them and we have to have the ability to know what they do and take them where it is more convenient for us. We will try to improve through our game. Energy, willingness, ambition, Palau Blaugrana… we count on all that, but it is our game which has to make us improve, to avoid this feeling of collapse."
Joel Parra, FC Barcelona forward
"It is time to deliver. We know it is hard, but we believe. Since Game 2 finished, we have looked to each other's faces and said we could turn this situation around. We have done it many times this season, playing as a team in the most difficult moments. We expect Palau Blaugrana to be as good as always and even better. For us, it is a final and this is what's most important. There are no excuses. It is one of the three finals we hope to play [against Monaco]. We had three days to recover and it is hard, given the calendar and the injuries we have. But again, there are no excuses. We know it will be a very difficult game and they will arrive here with the same dynamics, but can't allow that in our home. In such a long series, you have to try new things and our coaching staff will help us do them, what to do and how to protect ourselves. Above all, energy is the biggest key. When we went to Monaco, we had beaten them twice in the regular season and now they beat us twice. We analyzed both games and their physicality has been the biggest key. We didn't play at the same physical level as we did throughout the regular season. We know this and here at Palau, we will take a step forward with all of our fans helping us."
Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs. Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (19:45 CEST)
Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens head coach
"There is a good balance between the two teams, and Efes is a good team. We will go there to fight, to try to win both games. We know that we will play tough games. Both games in Athens were tough games. We won the first game that maybe Efes deserved to win, and we lost the second game that I believed we deserved to win because we led for 39 minutes and 30 seconds. Now we go there to win a game. It will be important to be ready to fight, to play good basketball, because Efes is playing good basketball."
"We are professional. All of us we fight for our team, for Panathinaikos, to win the game. I said a month ago that Efes is the only team I don’t like to play [against] in the playoffs. Not because we are friends but because they are a good team and they have very experienced players, like Shane Larkin, Elijah Bryant, Vincent Poirier, that I know in that kind of game they try to do their best. This season, we won many difficult games on the road. It will be a great atmosphere, we are in the playoffs. Every team tries to create a home-court advantage. But we saw, the show is nice, we are the best club and have the best fans to make a show, but it does not affect the final results. Efes fans are one of the most fair fans in Europe, but they will for sure make a good atmosphere."
"The pressure is on both sides right now, maybe more on Efes. We were the favorites when the series started. Now, maybe they are the favorites. It’s the playoffs, the pressure is the same on all teams, because everyone wants to go to the Final Four."
Cedi Osman, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens forward
"To be honest, we are not going for one, we are going for both games. Obviously, gooing game by game. We know the capacity we have, we know what kind of team we are. I believe in our team and the coaches. Everybody is ready for a fight because it will be a very tough game in Istanbul. Everybody is ready to give everything on the floor, on [Wednesday night], and again Friday night. We watched our second game again, we were really playing well. Just a small details that we missed, and I think if we fix those we will have a good chance to win both games. I am 100% ready to go and excited to be on the floor."
"[Efes] is a team that I played for nine years before going to the NBA. But as a professional, I got to be on the floor and give my 100%. I am playing for Panathinaikos and my heart is here, and I am doing all my best to help the team reach the Final Four. That’s the only goal for me, but I got nothing but respect for Efes."
Luca Banchi, Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach
"We are very excited to approach this new chapter of the series with two games in Istanbul. That was our task before the games in Athens. The first two games proved how tight and how balanced these series will be. Both games proved that not even a double-digit advantage was enough for teams to capitalize. So everybody needs 40 minutes of their best, high-intensity and best continuity, because I believe team have talented roster with such talented players that possess the capacity to become game-changers and game-finishers in every moment during this series. So, we want to prepare ourselves to also absorb their strong desire to revenge after the last loss. We have the defending champion in front of us, and they will combine their capacity together with a strong will, and that's why we want to respond in the same way as we did in Athens, ready to compete from the beginning at every level."
Dan Oturu, Anadolu Efes Istanbul center<br> "It will be an exciting atmosphere, another opportunity to go out and compete. We have to stay focused on playing our brand of basketball. It will feel good to have the support of our home fans."
Tuesday, April 29
Paris Basketball vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (20:30 CEST)
Saras Jasikevicius, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul head coach
"We have to match the desperation of Paris. Especially important first quarter over there and the entrance to the game, where they are the best. The atmosphere will be very favorable for them. After that we need to continue being patient offensively, share the ball, find the best shooter and, like always, try to look at their guards as much as we can.
Wade Baldwin, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul guard
"Thoughts before the game are just to continue what we’ve been doing for the past two games. Obviously, they are more desperate to win and we have to go to finish the job. Let’s see what happens on Tuesday."
Real Madrid vs. Olympiacos Piraeus (21:00 CEST)
Chus Mateo, Real Madrid head coach
"We are only thinking about what is ahead of us. We only have to win one game because for us nothing matters about what happened in Athens or what may happen in the future. I think the best way to face a playoff series is to think only and exclusively about what is in front of you and that is tomorrow's game, a very important game for us in which we have to keep correcting things. From Game 1 to Game 2 we corrected some things, not everything. There are still aspects of the game where Olympiacos is hurting us and we have to change what we did not do well. We had a good chance to win Game 2, and we need to get over the line in Game 3."
Andres Feliz, Real Madrid guard
"It's been a very tough series, but we are confident and we will fight to win the home games with the support of our fans and playing as a team. We must learn from the two games we played in Greece. We know what we have to do against Olympiacos. We have to be focused from the first minute, leave everything out there and go for the win. We need our fans to give us that extra boost that pushes us, and we want to do well because, after all, we are playing for them."
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos Piraeus head coach
"We will try to be better defensively from the first quarter compared to the last game; to stay solid, to play for the win, and to overcome some minor injury issues that have arisen, although we hope that won't affect the players' availability."
Saben Lee, Olympiacos Piraeus guard
"It will definitely be a tough game. After all, it's difficult to beat a team three times in a row. But I feel that we are ready for it."