“A blessing simply to be here”
Euroleague’s final press conference was a medley of everything. It hosted two great coaches that have both left their personal print on the event, so much in F4s as in the partial list of the most successful in their area of expertise, humorous lines and the obvious motivation on behalf of both teams and coaches to conquer the trophy on Sunday night. Motivation that was apparent even through the words of both players present at the press conference: Next to Zeljko Obradovic sat Vassilis Spanoulis, Ettore Messina was joined by Victor Khryapa. The topic was Euroleague F4 final between Panathinaikos and CSKA Moscow, tomorrow (21:00h GT, SKAI TV) at the O2 World Arena in Berlin.
Zeljko Obradovic in his initial statement gave emphasis to how happy he is to be present in yet another final “across from a great team and next to Ettore Messina” as he stressed only to add: “I can’t even remember how many times he has been in a final… After the last semi-final with Olympiakos and another great game amongst Barcelona and CSKA Moscow, I believe that the two best teams reached the final. I hope another great game will take place, a game similar to the semi-finals that everyone will enjoy.
It will be tough against such an experienced team which plays year after year in the final but I believe we’ll have our chances”.
Ettore Messina called on his humor from the start: “I on the other hand am not at all happy to see Zeljko on court. Off court, of course I am always happy to see him. I have the greatest respect for his actions and his root through the years; two teams that proceeded after two very intense encounters. It is a very balanced game and I feel it is useless to make any predictions. We will try our best to prepare, play well, keep together, allied down the stretch to the very last second and hopefully everything will go well”.
Vassilis Spanoulis, one of the most valuable players in the semi-final for Panathinaikos stressed: “It is great for me and my team to be in the final facing a very experienced opponent like CSKA with great coaches and great players. We will try to prepare ourselves as best as possible and follow our strategy. The odds are 50-50, between two very good teams”.
Next the word of Victor Khryapa who stated: “It is great that we are in the final. We are up against a great team. Both deserved to be here. We will prepare well and I hope we will be able to make it. Although I must agree that it is an encounter where no predictions can be made, 50-50 chances to win for both opponents”.
