By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Segafredo Virtus Bologna will go against Brose Bamberg and Iberostar Tenerife will face Telenet Giants Antwerp at the Antwerp Sportpaleis on Friday’s Basketball Champions League Final Four Semifinals. The prize is the Basketball Champions League trophy and only one team will be smiling after Sunday’s final.
Before the four clubs get on the court at Belgium, players and coaches shared their initial take on the Final Four through the pre-tournament press conference.
Dave Dudzinski of Antwerp, Pietro Aradori of Bologna, Nicolas Richotti of Tenerife and Nikos Zisis of Bamberg took the mic first, followed by the four coaches, Roel Moors (Antwerp), Sasa Djordjevic (Bologna), Txus Vidorreta (Tenerife) and Federico Perego (Bamberg).
“Our goal is to bring back a European title in Bologna”, said Aradori and Dudzinski added: “We want to show that Belgian teams can be competitive”. “We had a great challenge in the round of 16 against Promitheas, same against Hapoel but we made here and we want to continue”, said Richotti, while Zisis spoke about the quarterfinals against the defending champions AEK: “This series was huge for us”.
“Our goal all this year was to be competitive and the same applies to this weekend”, said the host Roel Moors. Coach Djordjevic congratulated all the teams and added: “We are on the right spot and we have the chance to fight for the trophy”. “So far, the host was the winner of the BCL final four, so we have to change history”, added Vidorreta and for Perego things are simple: “We are here and we want to compete”.
The Giant killers
Roel Moors, boss of Antwerp, also said: “Nobody expected us to be here. This story started last year when we brought this group together and we had to face three qualifications rounds. This year again qualifiers, so our first goal was to make it to the group stage.”
Asked on how his players should cope with the competition: “Unfortunately I never had this kind of experience as a player. It’s more in your mind as a coach. As a player, you just have to enjoy it and play as hard as you can, especially my guys. Most of them are at the beginning of their careers. You never know what’s next, but maybe you won’t get to this stage again, so you have to enjoy it to the fullest.”
The 40-year-old head coach also touched on the preparations at the Antwerp Sportpaleis. “It should be a great atmosphere. The gym looks really nice. It should be a big party for everybody here” he mentioned.
His player, Dave Dudzinski, summed up the season: “It’s been a process. We took one step at a time. We wanted to qualify for the Champions League at first. We wanted to be competitive every night. We got a playoffs spot. We have been playing very well together. We hope to keep it going this weekend. We have some great Belgian talent in this country and in this team with Ismael and some younger guys under him. The league is on the rise.”