Real Madrid

Pablo Laso said that he was pleased with his team after they defeated Unicaja in Antequera: “We have worked on aspects related to the pace of our game which stood us in good stead. They were generally very good and positive aspects. We have been able to focus on activity looking ahead to the future. We were very good in attack, the players are getting to know each other’s capabilities and we used mechanisms from last year by occupying space correctly. In defence, we were good. The intensity of Slaugther, Hernangómez and Reyes gave us a solid base from which to work and we were quick to get forward. There is a lot of room for improvement but I am quite pleased in general”.

The Real Madrid coach summed up the first few days of work: “After three training sessions, the feeling is that the team can play together and find each other in different situations. I am very pleased with the new players, even though their figures do not paint a brilliant picture, they are doing a great job for the team. We are very pleased with the first week of training”.

Mirotic was outstanding against Unicaja and Laso was full of praise when he was asked about him: “Nikola was very fresh when he arrived; we know that he must get better. He is well rested and has arrived in great form. Now he has to improve in certain respects. In general, they are all doing well and that can help us to get better”.

The Coach also summarised the new guard of the Whites’ squad: “Draper is not having a lot of luck in his shooting, but he is making good decisions, performing well in defence and I am pleased because he is making the team very solid”. He also referred to the pairs that he is using with the American on the court: “We are in pre-season and we are trying out a lot of combinations. I want Draper to get used to playing with Rodríguez and Llull. This is the time to experiment and try out these variations so that we can use them during the season”.