By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
It may seem weird to call Real Madrid an “underdog” but that’s the popular sentiment ahead of the EuroLeague championship game of the Spanish powerhouse against Olympiacos Piraeus.
Chuma Okeke thought certainly doesn’t feel that way
“That’s what people say we are. That we are the underdogs. But I don’t personally feel that we’re the underdogs,” Okeke said. “I feel like we can come into this game and win. I feel like we should win this game. If you just look around. I feel it even about yesterday against Valencia, that we were considered the underdog team. For us, we’re coming with a certain strength and certain confidence about ourselves that we should be able to win this game.”
There’s lot of discussion about the advantages Olympiacos has over Real Madrid. The larger rotation. Much bigger depth at the frontline. The presence of actual centers while the Blancos have no “5” available due after Edy Tavares, Alex Len and, lately, Usman Garuba, all got sidelined. And there’s also the fact that the arena will be backed by thousands and thousands of loud fans of the Reds.
But what is Real Madrid’s advantage over Olympiacos, according to Okeke?
“I think our advantage is probably our ability to be resilient. As we’ve showed in past matches. Our resiliency has kept us over the edge above other teams. I feel that’s the advantage that we’ve got”
Still, Okeke will most likely find himself in matchup situations against bigger bodies like Nikola Milutinov, Donta Hall and Tyrique Jones.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge,” Okeke admitted. “We’re definitely undersized right now. We just have to give it more effort and be more connected as a team.”
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