By Michalis Stefanou/ info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos Piraeus star forward Sasha Vezenkov applauded Real Madrid for the effort they put in the playoffs against his team and emphasized how he and his teammates will be locked in on claiming the championship title in Abu Dhabi.
“Tough series,” Vezenkov told Eurohoops after his team’s away win in Game 4 and the qualification to the Final Four.
“Against a team with big mettle. With lots of championship wins, with experience. They don’t have the depth and quality of the previous year, but they put up their fight. With the strength of their jersey. I have the utmost respect for Real Madrid. We knew that we should play better to win. We were up by 15 points. Then we relax a bit. All good in the end. Our goal is to win the championship title. We should be happy and enjoy some things in life. We should get some rest. Now we’ll play vs. AEK [for the Greek League] and then get ready for the semifinal.”
“The win is what’s important in this game,” Vezenkov added. “I always want to help the team win, and especially during the playoffs, the most important thing is the win. I didn’t enter the game concentrated, but I don’t want to remember anything from that. We are in the Final Four, and that’s what counts.”
This will be the fourth straight Final Four for Olympiacos. Vezenkov has been present in three of these tournaments, except for last season when he played for the Sacramento Kings.
“You know that this is the third phase of a competition and that it’s completely different from everything you’ve experienced until then. Every team has a 25% chance. There’s no newcomer team, or anything like that. Every team has experienced players with quality. Nothing is enough for any team other than the title. Above all, the important thing is to be healthy.”
Vezenkov didn’t score much for his standards, finishing with 10 points. He did, however, make a big triple to put Olympiacos up 85 – 78 with 2:02 remaining after going 0/4 from the perimeter.
“It was a big shot. I could’ve made the next one. Fournier made the free throw, and we won. That’s what I keep”