By Stefan Acevski/ info@eurohoops.net
BC Rytas is the first finalist of the Basketball Champions League, having defeated Tenerife (87-69) in Badalona.
With an excellent performance, the Lithuanians secured a chance to compete for the trophy in their first appearance at the Final Four of this competition.
After the match Jerrick Harding, who finished the game with an impressive 29 points, gave a statement.
“I just want to say thank you to my coaches and teammates for giving me confidence and allowing me to be me. It’s been tough this past month, I’ve been in and out of the lineup, but they kept my head high. I worked, kept my head down and I’m happy we got a win.”
Alongside him, BC Rytas coach Giedrius Žibenas also spoke, discussing his team’s game plan.
“The key was defense, like it always is. We know how Tenerife’s game is built about and how orchestra is run by one musician Huertas. Today we wanted him to score more with pull-ups, he punished us but other guys were not involved and that helped us. Huertas got tired, started missing shots. We were sharing fouls, tried to push the ball, missed a lot of spot-ups so I believe we have more potential in the final. We need to stay extremely humble.”
He also addressed the question of who he would prefer to face in the final.
“This is something we can’t control. For sure, both teams deserve to be here, both teams are “Mohicans“ of BCL, with experienced coaches and great players. Now we need to rest, not to stay here to watch, to avoid noise. Tomorrow we have all day long to prepare.”
Furthermore, he commented on Harding’s outstanding performance, which was crucial in securing his team’s place in the final.
“I can’t praise him too much, he will feel good before the final. He has to be humble. It’s his game, he had really tough season with small injuries, I don’t want to go too deep with that. He’s very talented player and that’s why we are extremely happy to have him with us. He had some games with not that great performances, but we trusted him. These games are the type of games players work for, for this they sacrifice their personal life and I’m happy for Jerrick. Still, job is not done.”