Check out what the coaches and players are saying ahead of Round 11 of the 2025-26 EuroLeague season
Pregame quotes, Round 11: 'It's very special to return to where it all began for me’
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Thursday, November 13
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade vs. AS Monaco (20:00 CET)
Nemanja Nedovic, Monaco guard
"Playing against Crvena Zvezda will definitely be a special moment for me. It's very special to return to the arena where it all began for me, in my hometown. I'll try to focus on the game, as I know how to do. The key will be to stay focused on ourselves and on basketball, to block out everything else, the atmosphere, the stands... We have to focus on executing our game plan, and that's not an easy task in such a noisy and heated environment. Crvena Zvezda is a team that has regained its confidence with Sasa Obradovic. We know what to expect."
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul vs. Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv (20:00 CET)
Sarunas Jasikevicius, Fenerbahce head coach
"Another difficult game for us. Hapoel is one of the leaders in EuroLeague. They started the season in a great shape. Obviously, very clear roles. The guards take many responsibilities. Incredible offensive rebound numbers, incredible size with Motley playing fourth position. And then the versatility to change the defenses and to present to different lineups."
Talen Horton-Tucker, Fenerbahce guard
"We've just got to come out and follow the game plan. We know that they are a high-paced team with a lot of good guards and some pretty mobile bigs, so being able to come out and play as hard as we can and get out in transition and play to our strengths is something that we need to do."
Dimitris Itoudis, Hapoel head coach
"Fenerbahce is a team with many qualities, and we have great respect for that .This game against the defending champions is one of the biggest challenges for us in the EuroLeague, and we want to face it with full motivation and concentration in order to compete with one of the best teams in the league."
Chris Jones, Hapoel guard
"This game is going to be another big test for us. It’s about making key defensive stops, continuing to share the ball, and staying aggressive - both individually and as a team. No matter how the game goes, teams will have their runs, and things might not always go our way, but if we stick together, I believe we’ll always give ourselves a fighting chance."
Real Madrid vs. Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (20:45 CET)
Sergio Scariolo, Real Madrid head coach
"We are looking forward to tomorrow's game with great excitement and enthusiasm. We are playing against what has arguably been the best team of the last couple of years, with two Final Four appearances and one title. Panathinaikos has great players, a perimeter with up to three very good ball handlers on the court, with an MVP-level star like Kendrick Nunn and other great players like Sloukas, Grant, and TJ Shorts, who was the star of last season and has added a lot of quality and speed to their outside game. They have big forwards like Juancho Hernangomez, a very talented and competitive player, Osman, likewise, and they have added another former NBA player, Kenneth Faried, who had a huge impact in his first game, in Panathinaikos's road win in Paris. They are a team with many weapons, many experienced and high-quality players, whom we like to face now that we have been accelerating our progress. We want to give our fans a great game on our home court."
Gaby Deck, Real Madrid forward
"Tomorrow we will try to play our best against a great opponent, a very good team that is coming off a win and played well in their last game. We have to try to stay focused, do our job well, and play hard for the full 40 minutes because we are expecting a very demanding game. We hope to play well, rise to the occasion, and put in a good performance at home in front of our fans."
Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos head coach
"We had very good contributions from many players [in Paris], and I hope that will continue in Madrid. [Kenneth Faried] is a very experienced player, a very positive player. My first impression, I really liked his character. He's really positive. There is no question about his quality. This guy had a great career in the NBA, and he played against me in 2014 when I was coaching the Turkish national team at the FIBA World Cup. He played on the U.S. national team with Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Tyson Chandler, with many star players. He has this quality. I think he likes the team, he likes the club. For sure, that kind of player likes the atmosphere of the EuroLeague, so I hope he will continue like this. He gave us something we missed, especially after we lost Mathias, Holmes and Yurtseven to injury.
"It's not a surprise for me [that TJ Shorts played well in Paris] because players are not robots. They have some feelings. This guy has a great past in Paris, in both the EuroCup and the EuroLeague, and especially in the last quarter, the last five minutes, he showed his character and was very important offensively. He showed in Paris that he is a winning player. I hope he will continue like this."
Alex Samodurov, Panathinaikos center
"It will be a difficult game — we know that, and we have prepared accordingly. We must remain focused for the full 40 minutes and perform very well defensively in order to win this game."
Paris Basketball vs. Valencia Basket (20:45 CET)
Yankuba Sima, Valencia center
"The EuroLeague schedule is very demanding. There's no time to feel sorry for yourself when you've lost a game or two in a row. But you can't get too carried away when you're doing well either, because you play every two or three days. It's a very physical competition in which every game is very difficult to win. Yesterday's victory was very important, but now we have to wipe the slate clean because we're traveling to Paris. They're a very tough team to play, especially there. They're a team that likes to run a lot and also takes a lot of shots from the three-point line. They're a very physical team. We'll prepare as best we can for the game in Paris, but I think we're in good shape. Hopefully we can put in a good performance there too."
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv vs. Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (21:00 CET)
Oded Kattash, Maccabi head coach
"We are coming off a tough loss, so I want to see a good reaction. We have to start the game focused and aggressive, especially defensively. Baskonia wants to play a high-tempo game. They want to attack offensively, there are a lot of movements in their offense. A lot of threes that come off of movement, so we need to be really concentrated. Five players playing defense, five players boxing out. It's very clear that when we control the boards, the defensive rebounds, it's something that really helps us."
Friday, November 14
Dubai Basketball vs. Zalgiris Kaunas (17:00 CET)
Jurica Golemac, Dubai head coach
"Zalgiris is playing amazing. Great team basketball, very physical. We're going to need to play the best game of the season if we want to win at home. We need our fans, we need to be physical, and we need to take care of their qualities, their individual characteristics, and all to play together. Without this, we cannot win the game."
McKinley Wright, Dubai guard
"We've got to be able to get stops and slow their guys down in transition. Their two point guards do a really good job of pushing the pace. They're probably the best offensive rebounding team in the EuroLeague, so we've got to keep them off the glass as much as possible. We're going to play through some adversity, some ups and downs, so as long as we stay together and execute the game plan, I think we'll be okay."
Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs. FC Bayern Munich (18:00 CET)
Igor Kokoskov, Efes head coach
"Anadolu Efes is facing a very good challenge on Friday. Bayern Munich is an experienced team with a very deep roster. We need to continue to compete as team. Effort will never be an issue for us. Even in this difficult time when we miss some players, we need to learn how to close the games as a team. We need to execute better in the crunch time as a team. We need to continue trusting each other and believe in the final result!"
Nick Weiler-Babb, Efes guard
"It will be a tough game and Bayern Munich is playing good basketball. We need to be the more physical team and stick together for 40 minutes."
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (20:00 CET)
Zeljko Obradovic, Partizan head coach
"In the EuroLeague, no team can count on a win in advance. ASVEL is a team that changes a lot on defense, switching from zone pressing to different types of zone defense. We have to try to play in transition and enter our offense as early as possible so we don’t let them set up what they’re used to. They’re missing some players, just like we are, so I think that’s an important characteristic of this game. We need to stay focused and try to apply all the good things we showed in the game against Monaco to this one as well."
Shake Milton, Partizan guard
"For us, it's just about executing offensively and defensively and to continue to grow as a team and play together. I think we are able to do that and that we’re good. Sometimes the away games are tricky, but for us that’s a perfect opportunity to come together."
FC Barcelona vs. Virtus Bologna (20:30 CET)
Oscar Orellana, Barcelona interim head coach
"We were told that we had reached an agreement with Xavi [Pascual]. I am very happy that he has joined us as a coach. He is a person from here, who knows the club and what it means to be here. I did not have the option to work with him directly, but I did have the option to see him train a lot. I think it is a spectacular signing for the club. Now we just have to focus on the upcoming games and on Sunday, when Xavi arrives, we will put ourselves at his disposal to help him with everything he asks us. Now we just have to focus on tomorrow's game. We know we are playing twice in 48 hours but now we will try to focus on tomorrow's game. It is a home game, in front of our fans, a EuroLeague game. I think it is a brutal experience, because the fans return to the Palau to reconnect with the team and try to fight for the victory. I am convinced that if we show the predisposition, the confidence and the hustle that we showed yesterday, we will surely fight to win. Virtus will be a very tough opponent. They have improved their physicality, signing a lot of physical players to make the team really aggressive on defense. We can use many different defenses, all of them very aggressive, with a lot of physical contact. Therefore, we will have to be very serious in attack, we will have to be very organized, very aware of what we want to play, in order to have clear shooting options and be fluid on offense. And on defense, I think we have to follow the path we have been following yesterday: our opponents should not get easy baskets. We should try to improve the things that we did not do well yesterday, such as the turnovers and the offensive rebounds allowed, which were easy points for them. There is not much room to work on many things, because we played yesterday and then again tomorrow. We have to put emphasis on those things that we can do better than we did in yesterday's game."
Nicolas Laprovittola, Barcelona forward
"Xavi [Pascual] is a great coach and he will come here to help us. We are all trying to bring the team's best version. He will start on Monday, that is what I was told, and we have to think about being better, improve, compete as much as possible and win as many games as we can. I believe that he knows the club and its mentality really well, so I think he will surely do well. Yesterday's win has to give us a lot of confidence. We have to believe in our team and in all the players that we have. We have to believe in each other and play a solid game, fight hard like we did in Munich. We have to looking forward to returning to Palau, connecting with our people and turn our home into a fortress. We will have another chance to Friday. I am feeling better, trying to be as healthy as possible. My best rhythm will arrive, I am not 100% yet. I have to be patient but as long as I can help the team, I will be there: talking, leading and doing the best that I can."
Dusko Ivanovic, Virtus head coach
"Barcelona is one of the best teams in Europe. The recent coaching change they’ve just gone through will surely give the team the strength for a positive reaction, with a change of mentality from the players, who will want to demonstrate their worth on the pitch and show that they can play at their best. I think we’ll need to be ready for the high level of energy they’ll bring tomorrow. We’ll have to show that we’re not just a good team at home, but that we can be good anywhere."
Saliou Niang, Virtus forward
"It won’t be an easy game, because we haven’t had much time to prepare properly for tomorrow. However, we’ve done our best, and that’s what matters. We’re facing Barcelona, one of the top teams in the EuroLeague, with players of the highest level in the league. We’re very motivated after the great win against Efes, and that will be the spark that drives us to give our all again tomorrow."
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan vs. Olympiacos Piraeus (20:30 CET)
Ettore Messina, Milan head coach
"I'd like to express our full support to Keenan Evans; we're deeply saddened by what happened to a great player and a very good person. Olympiacos is the team with the most consistent roster in recent years, so they are capable to play with the eyes closed, using a defense that can be suffocating at times thanks to the guards' ability to crush you and put pressure, especially on the perimeter players. We'll have to try to be ready to deal with this type of pressure and adapt to the multiple offensive options they can adopt. Unfortunately, we're in an emergency situation where we don't know who will be able to play. With so many players doubtful, tomorrow morning we'll figure out what roster we can use."
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos head coach
"We want to be competitive everywhere, to fight for the win and to do the best we can — to keep improving throughout the season and handle difficult situations. Milan is obviously a good team. Every team in the EuroLeague is strong and well-coached. According to the information we have, most of their players will be available tomorrow, except for Brown, if I’m not mistaken. It will be a high-quality game. We always struggle in Milan, and especially if we play with less physicality than our opponent, we’ll have problems."
Tyson Ward, Olympiacos forward
"In the game against Milan, we have to do what we did in our previous wins — play Olympiacos basketball and give everything on defense. That’s very important for us, as the EuroLeague keeps getting more competitive. We must continue to stop our opponents defensively, and then everything else will fall into place."