The protagonists of the game talk before the ball starts bouncing in Milan.
Pre-game quotes: AX Armani Exchange Milan vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
AX Armani Exchange Milan head coach Ettore Messina:
"Fenerbahce right now is playing a very good quality of basketball despite missing two important players like Nando De Colo and Jan Vesely. They are taking advantage of a different spacing, they are increasing the tempo a little bit with Pierria Henry and going down low more often with Dyshawn Pierre. It is going to be a difficult game for us since we are coming off a very demanding battle physically in Belgrade. So, our first goal is to find a way to use all the energy we still have."
AX Armani Exchange Milan player Nicolo Melli
"I'm expecting a tough game, Fenerbahce is a very dangerous team playing well lately. We want to extend our winning streak, well aware that when you play at home the responsibilities are higher. To me, any Fenerbahce game will be special, but obviously we are here for a reason and that is to win."
AX Armani Exchange Milan player Gigi Datome
"The schedule is tough, a lot of games coming at us fast, so it is important to recover our energy to face a difficult opponent like Fenerbahce. They don't have two great players like De Colo and Vesely, but they are playing well and every game they have a new guy coming up strong, so it is going to be a hard game."
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Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic:
"For sure one of the toughest road trips against the team, who is lately on a winning streak. They have a deep, tough and physical roster. First of all, we need to find the energy. We should look deep into ourselves to get some extra effort out of our pride. Because we know what kind of a loss we had here in Istanbul and that could be the biggest motivation for us. I expect a tough and physical game."
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul player Ahmet Duverioglu:
"We are going through a tough schedule, where we play games every two days. The key point is to prepare ourselves physically and mentally before each challenge. We had a good win against Asvel. Now we have a difficult road game ahead. Milan is a very good team. They performed very well throughout the season and we lost against them in Istanbul. Even though we have been lacking a lot of players, we will show our best fight to win in Italy. And of course, it will be great as always to see two old friends like Datome and Melli."