Chus Mateo: 'It's an important win to stay in the top three.'
'We still have a chance to finish first and we will keep fighting until the end,' explained Hezonja after the win against Bayern.
Chus Mateo and Hezonja analysed Real Madrid's win over Bayern Munich on the penultimate matchday of the Euroleague regular season. The coach explained: "We played much better defence in the second half. We closed down their spaces and let them shoot fewer three-pointers, something which had been a problem for us at the start."
"We played a solid game without doing anything particlularly spectacular. We had to adjust a few things because of Poirier's absence but we understood the situation. It probably wasn't our best game, but it's an important win to stay in the top three. There is one more game left in the regular season and we have to go out and win regardless of what the others do. This victory is testament to the work that we've been putting in, but we will have to give 100 per cent in the playoffs. We know when crunch time is."
On Poirier and Hezonja
"We don't know how long Poirier will take to come back, but hopefully he will be ready in time for the playoffs. As for Hezonja, he's doing well and I'm happy with his work, as I am with a number of his teammates' efforts. Not only is he able to score, but he can also help the team in other aspects such as steals, defending and counter-attacking..."
Hezonja: "We are delighted with the win"
"We started a bit slowly but little by little we put that behind us and improved our defensive rebounding. We distributed the ball very well and we are very happy with the win. Furthermore, Olympiacos lost and we still have a chance to finish top of the table and we're going to keep fighting until the end."
"We played a solid game without doing anything particlularly spectacular. We had to adjust a few things because of Poirier's absence but we understood the situation. It probably wasn't our best game, but it's an important win to stay in the top three. There is one more game left in the regular season and we have to go out and win regardless of what the others do. This victory is testament to the work that we've been putting in, but we will have to give 100 per cent in the playoffs. We know when crunch time is."
On Poirier and Hezonja
"We don't know how long Poirier will take to come back, but hopefully he will be ready in time for the playoffs. As for Hezonja, he's doing well and I'm happy with his work, as I am with a number of his teammates' efforts. Not only is he able to score, but he can also help the team in other aspects such as steals, defending and counter-attacking..."
Hezonja: "We are delighted with the win"
"We started a bit slowly but little by little we put that behind us and improved our defensive rebounding. We distributed the ball very well and we are very happy with the win. Furthermore, Olympiacos lost and we still have a chance to finish top of the table and we're going to keep fighting until the end."