Check out what the stars said during media availability on Thursday
Semifinals pregame quotes: Olympiacos vs. Monaco
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On the eve of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Semifinals, the Olympiacos Piraeus and AS Monaco players spoke with the media before and after the practice sessions at Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena. Here's what some of the stars had to say.
Evan Fournier, Olympiacos Piraeus forward
"It's great, I am looking forward to my first Final Four and the opportunity to make something special happen for this team. And I think we are all excited. We are all happy, but we know we have a lot of work to do. I'm not sure how many people are going to be there, because obviously it's extremely far, but we are extremely thankful to all the fans that are showing up. Monaco is a very good team. They have a lot of talent, so it should be a good, interesting matchup against two experienced teams. It's win or go home. I mean, we have two more games, whatever happens, happens. But obviously, if we lose tomorrow the season is over, so one step at a time. Our focus is on Monaco and then we will see."
Mam Jaiteh, AS Monaco center
"I think there are different players [compared to 2023] so the context will be completely different. But still, many of the guys stayed with the team, so we have learned from it as a team. I think we have enough experience now to not fall into the trap that this team had two years ago. Being here is a very nice feeling, because I feel like everything is ready to welcome us. Everything is ready for the game, for the challenge, so it is now up to us to be on point and to and to respond to it. It is all about being able to play a 40-minute game. We know it is going to be very closer and that they have all this experience, so it is up to us to be consistent, to play with extremely high intensity, and hopefully we are going to be able to reach something. I am enjoying every single moment because many great players haven't had the chance to play a Final four and win the EuroLeague. So you never know what can happen tomorrow. The mood is to enjoy every second, which means that you need to give everything, no matter what the score is. You can leave the court with the feeling that you did and gave everything. That's what we want to feel when we leave the court."
Shaquielle McKissic, Olympiacos Piraeus forward
"We've got a few first-timers, that’s a bit different [compared to previous] semifinals, but as far as the atmosphere it’s getting better and better every year. I know how smart Coach [Spanoulis] is just from playing with him and being around him for so many years. I don’t know what their game plan is, but all we can do is focus on our game plan, have confidence in it and execute it. We are one of the best teams in the world, it’s time to live up to that. Having a lot of guards like they have, they are able to manipulate their offense to do what they wanna do and try to get what they want to get. There’s pros and cons to every offense. They have such good players all it takes one of those guys to take over and have a good night and things can go south for us. But we also have a good roster and personnel, that hopefully works out in our favor."
Jordan Loyd, AS Monaco guard
“We don’t look at ourselves as underdogs, but having that mentality that people are counting you out is a good thing. That’s a good thing for me, I’ve been like that my whole life. So, as far as our team and know what we can achieve, I think we can win the entire EuroLeague, and that’s why we are here. But that mentality and having that focus is not necessarily bad. It’s not bad to have a little bit of underdog mentality. I am sure, in all of Europe, everybody wants a Greek final. But we are not worried about that, all we can do is go out and play our game. We’ve been playing Olympiacos for a long time now. It’s fun, it is something we look forward to, and I think the underdog mentality is a good thing for us. It’s one game, anything can happen in one game. It’s 40 minutes – once the ball goes up, you never know. I think we are really locked in, I keep saying we have a great chance, and I am really confident in our team. The biggest thing [Coach Spanoulis said] was clear head. He was like, 'Have a clean head, don’t worry about anything, play aggressive, play confident and enjoy the moment. Don’t put too much extra stress or extra stuff in your head, whether it is good or bad, and stay even keel.' I learned a lot from him already from the time being here. He’s a legendary player. I played against him, as well, and now being coached by him is pretty awesome. It’s pretty cool to have him, and his experience, especially against a team like Olympiacos, who he is familiar with. We are excited."
Moses Wright, Olympiacos Piraeus center
“Two for two! If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Hopefully we’ll get it done this year. We’ve got a lot of great pieces and a lot of great players, so I trust in Coach B [Bartzokas] to get everyone in the right position. He’s a chess master, so he’s got to use the pieces he needs.
“We had a lot of people come back, so we all knew how it felt to get there and be so close to winning one. We went into the new season with vets like Sasha, who played in the league and got to the Final Four, Sasha was the MVP, Evan has been in the NBA for 13 years and been around great players, so they came and brought a whole new mentality to the team and competition. It’s great to have more competitive pieces and it’s dope to go up against them in practice.”