00:02...eurocup championship and even an NBA title back in 2019.
00:05Now the only major trophy you're missing is a Euroleague trophy.
00:10You're coming back to Athens for Final Four after 19 years since 2007.
00:15What does this city bring back to you as memories?
00:18And what would it mean for you to get this trophy home at this stage of your career?
00:24Good morning everyone.
00:26Honestly, it's nice to be here.
00:28I think that Final Four really, it's an excellent area where just the four best team made it
00:42and that separates a little bit the excellence from really good teams which didn't make them.
00:49So personally, obviously it's nice to be here, nice to compete, to win the championship.
00:55It's not an obsession. I think that many, many great coaches didn't win the Euroleague and they are still great
01:02coaches.
01:04And obviously Athens is a great basketball city.
01:09Two big teams, a lot of fans, a lot of passion.
01:13I remember back in time that Final Four we were with a small team like Unicaja back in time and
01:20we competed.
01:23We competed.
01:24Similar circumstances from a certain standpoint and then this year we had a couple of main big injuries back then.
01:31And this time as well.
01:34But we are here, happy to be here and ready to compete.
01:38Happy to have you too, coach. Thank you.
01:40Fakul, welcome.
01:42Welcome to another Final Four for you.
01:45Without a doubt, your team has the most Final Four experience when it comes to a group.
01:49In moments like this, how much does experience count?
01:53Especially knowing that you likely play without two of your post players at this tournament.
01:59And maybe you have to change your defensive approach as well.
02:02I'm going to answer in Spanish.
02:04Yes, of course.
02:06Way better for everyone.
02:08Sorry, Saras.
02:10Creo que la experiencia en este momento cuenta mucho.
02:14Es un factor importante, no determinante.
02:17El hecho también de no jugar con Eddy y Alex es un factor también importante.
02:22Pero creo que nuestro trabajo viene siendo tratar de disimular esas bajas con lo bueno que tenemos, ¿no?
02:29Con el equipo que está junto, con el talento ofensivo y defensivo que tenemos.
02:32Así que creo que si disimulamos bien la baja que tenemos y sumamos la experiencia y el talento que tiene
02:39el equipo,
02:39creo que cosas buenas pueden pasar.
02:41I think I understood a little bit.
02:43But I'm sure everybody understood.
02:45But let's be honest.
02:47You guys have a lot of experience.
02:48And I know I understood that, you know, you also have a very talented team.
02:52And that group didn't come here accidentally.
02:54You deserve to be here.
02:56We're talking about Real Madrid.
02:57Now let's move on to Valencia Basket.
02:59Welcome, guys, to your first Final Four.
03:02I'm going to start with you, coach.
03:04Congratulations on everything for this year.
03:05Also winning the Coach of the Year Award.
03:08You have been as a group, if not, I'm going to say it, the biggest surprise of this EuroLeague season.
03:15Not only because you play a kind of style of basketball that we love to watch,
03:20but because you became only the second team in EuroLeague history to complete a reverse sweep,
03:24as we say, when it comes to the playoffs.
03:26Coming back from 0-2 down against the powerhouse.
03:29Like British media, Turkish media, because we've had a lot of Greeks.
03:35Okay, let's go.
03:36The microphone, please, here.
03:37Oh, you have it?
03:38Okay, I didn't see you.
03:39I'm sorry, apologies.
04:02Well, I think I should answer in Spanish.
04:07Whatever you feel more comfortable, coach.
04:10Do it in English, right?
04:12You have translation.
04:13I think the key is always have a balance and try to be, to get an emotional spar from the
04:25experience,
04:25from the confidence you get qualifying for the final four, among so many great teams who tried it.
04:39And the focus on the performance, everybody has its own performance, you know, strategy, game plans, playing, decision-making.
04:50So, if you go too emotional, probably you will lose a little bit of control.
04:54If you don't feel that extra motivation from being at the top of your experience in club basketball here in
05:04Europe,
05:04you will probably miss a big part and some fuel also.
05:08So, in my opinion, the secret is to find the right balance between the two different areas, right?
05:17The rational and the emotional.
05:19Thank you, coach.
05:20Thank you.
05:25Oh, another lady.
05:27Myself as well.
05:28Yeah.
05:30What can I say?
05:31I mean, speaks a lot about love for the game, right?
05:35This is all about love for the game.
05:37Probably we could, you know, be retired and enjoying a different part of our life,
05:45but maybe the biggest, our family, don't listen about it, but the biggest part of our life has been basketball.
05:54We enjoyed it.
05:55We loved it.
05:58We got through pain because of basketball as well.
06:03We overcame it.
06:04And the thing is that we are still here and we see a lot in front of us.
06:09I mean, personally, when I left the national team, it's just because I wanted to go through this experience
06:15and prove, basically, to myself that I can still, you know, help a team to reach good results.
06:23And I feel like it was not that big of a deal.
06:26People would say, hey, national team is different.
06:29Where is the difference?
06:30I mean, just length of the season, right?
06:34So, in both cases, I think we loved the game.
06:37We tried to put our little, little, you know, brick in the wall to make our sport better.
06:46Try to respect people.
06:48Sometimes our industry was not great in showing respect for the rest of the people.
06:57We tried to do it.
06:58And I think it's a way to give an example to the young coaches how you want.
07:05You can succeed through respect and through just hard work.
07:09And we're not good at it.
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