Check out what the coaches and players are saying ahead of Game 5 of the 2025 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs
Playoffs pregame quotes, Game 5: 'Anything can happen in basketball'
Straipsnis
6 Minutė skaityti
Tuesday, May 6
AS Monaco vs. FC Barcelona (19:00 CEST)
Vassilis Spanoulis, AS Monaco head coach
"You have to be ready to win, be good at execution and play your game. In a Game 5, you have to fight and keep the faith. Anything can happen in basketball. The fact that we're playing at home, in front of our fans, is an advantage. It's up to us to do a good job, because something great could be waiting for us at the end."
Mike James, AS Monaco guard
"It's good to play Game 5 at home, in front of our fans. Anything's possible. Being at home, we feel more confident, more liberated. We'll have to be intense, especially on defense and on rebounds. This is the fourth year we've played a Game 5 and the third time in a row at home. We've been there, we just need to stay focused. We'd have preferred to win in three or four games, but here we are. We're lucky enough to do this job and play a great game. In Game 3, I was effective on offense but not on defense. I'm hoping to put together a very good Game 5 to lead my team, and to concentrate on defense first."
Joan Penarroya, FC Barcelona head coach
"We come into the game feeling good. We have the desire to play one of the games that we all wanted to play, a game that gives us the option of playing at the Final Four. We are convinced that the difficulty is very big but, at the same time, we also have all the options if we play the game that we have to play. Anything can happen but not playing on Sunday [in the Spanish League] has certainly gone well for us. We know that Monaco was better than us on their home court, took us out of our game and punished us a lot with their playing style, collapsing us, getting steals and even when they missed, rebounding well. These are situations in which I think we have improved a lot in Games 3 and 4, but we have to be prepared to take care of that because they are a team that when they play a lot, they put a lot of pressure on the ball have to be pressing the ball. Now, I want to have a good practice and play a good game. The team surely has had many moments in which it could have fell and has not done it. The team is eager to fight for everything, and is convinced that it can fight for everything and beat anybody if it does things well, and surely what I am most happy is this mentality that we have. We can be better or worse but the team knows that it can win beat anybody, and this is helping us to be more confident at this moment, before this game against Monaco."
Willy Hernangomez, FC Barcelona center
"I have never been to Abu Dhabi. It will be a good opportunity. I think we have to keep taking steps forward, as we have done during the series. I think we are waiting for a very tough game, a very physical game. If we do our job and play our game, we have many options. All that is left is one game and the team is very focused on doing things well. I think in the last two games, we are showing the level we can reach as a team. We still have steps to take, but I think we are very motivated and aware of the importance of tomorrow's game. Not only me, but the whole team knows the importance of tomorrow's game. For me, personally, it is a game that motivates me a lot. As I said in other interviews this week and last week, we have been working very hard all year for moments like this, important moments, in which the team needs the best version of each of us, and we need to do what is necessary to win on Tuesday."
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul (20:45 CEST)
Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos ATKOR Athens head coach
"It will definitely be a difficult game because all the games in the series so far have been close. Anadolu Efes Istanbul has experienced players and is a fighter. We have to be calm, play aggressively on defense and play our game on offense, so that we can win. Nothing can cancel my memories and my respect for the Anadolu Efes Istanbul organization. I have friends who work there, family, the president. We’re always with the family. Sometimes fans do such things. But I think Panathinaikos fans know a lot more about basketball and respect people more. I hope that tomorrow our fans will support us, without offending anyone, because it has nothing to do with Anadolu Efes Istanbul as a team. I know that the Anadolu Efes Istanbul organization was very worried about what happened, but that’s life, these things happen sometimes. Now I’m not thinking about that, I’m thinking about Game 5, to play well and win."
Wenyen Gabriel, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens center
"We are expecting one of the biggest games of the season at OAKA tomorrow. It is, if I’m not mistaken, the seventh time we have played Anadolu Efes Istanbul [this season]. We know them and they know us. We have to enter the game aggressively from the beginning. We know that the crowd will be on our side tomorrow. They are a good team, we expected it. It is a dogfight, we expect that in the game tomorrow as well. It will be about who wants it the most and who is more aggressive. We have played many games on this court. We know how we have to be in terms of aggression and composure. In the end, the result will be visible."
Luca Banchi, Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach
"We are at the last episode of an incredible series with the defending champion of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens. Every game was so tight, so intense, so emotional and that’s why we have to prepare ourselves technically and mentally to produce the best performance possible. I really wish that everybody will be healthy. We are actually suffering some injuries connected with a level of high intensity of these series, but I’m pretty sure that everybody will be ready to give his contribution to achieve an amazing result for our team and our fans."
PJ Dozier, Anadolu Efes Istanbul guard
"It will be a big fight."
