Reporting from Berlin: Bugra Uzar/ info@eurohoops.net
The one who made all the difference for Fenerbahce during overtime against Laboral Kutxa was Bogdan Bogdanovic. The Serbian shooting guard scored nine out of his 18 points in the extra period, setting up the pace that the Turkish team needed in order to advance in the grand Euroleague Final.
When Eurohoops asked him about what transpired in the semifinal, he began by giving credit to his opponents, for the great fight they put against him and his teammates. “An unbelievable performance by the players of Laboral Kutxa made it a tough match. Especially Darius Adams and Giannis Bourousis”, he added. “We could not find a way to stop them throughout the whole the game. In the end we were together. We fought together. We had the luck to lead the game to overtime and in the extra period we played great”.
While he had lost plenty of open shots during the 40-minute period of the game, Bogdanovic was brilliant in the extra time. “I don’t like to talk about myself”, he said before admitting that “I could easily have been a loser one minute before the end of the game. If Kostas and Luigi didn’t make that huge plays that led to the extra period, it would be over. So I felt i should have given them something back. In the end, we are strong together. I think they are very proud of me, especially on how hard we fought in order to win. We are really good friends.”
And what does Bogdan Bogdanovic think about the upcoming Final against CSKA Moscow? “It’s a final. We will fight in a game that will be full of high level basketball. Both teams deserve to be in the Final. It will be a tough game.”