Chus Mateo: "We have to keep focused and continue to do things well in the Euroleague"
"The most important thing to arrive at the end in the best condition is to be consistent," said Sergio Rodríguez before the game against Emporio Armani Milan.
Chus Mateo and Sergio Rodríguez spoke in the preview of the EA7 Emporio Armani Milan Euroleague matchday 26 (Thursday, 8:30pm CET). The Real Madrid coach spoke about the away game: "I fully expect us to be a team that is focused, that wants to continue to do well and compete in every Euroleague game. We're going to come up against a side that's fighting to get into the play-in".
"Our priority is to win. For me, there is a maxim in basketball: the better you play, the more likely you are to win. There are many things involved in playing well, not just scoring. It's important that everyone should feel useful. I'm happy and I'm pleased that people enjoy watching us play. The most important thing has to be the strength of the group and nobody is going to make Real Madrid play well on their own. We have to try to play well as a unit, that's one of our objectives".
Tavares and Llull
"They're travelling to Milan. Their recovery work has been good. Tavares is fine, he's been training with the group for a while and we're going to try to give him minutes. He's worked very well from a physical point of view. We'll have to keep him on the pitch for a while and we'll try to give him minutes gradually without sacrificing the others. But it's a priority for him and Llull to get into a rhythm".
Mentality and motivation
"We don't want to get distracted from our work and, although we've done a lot of good work, we still haven't achieved the objective we want to achieve. We have to keep reaching goals and that means taking steps forward but not making a leap. That has to set us on the right path. The Copa del Rey is on the horizon and we have that in mind".
"Our motivation is not really about who we're coming up against, it's about wanting to do a good job. We try to be competitive in every game and we've only lost six. That requires a lot of concentration".
Sergio Rodríguez: "It will be a special game for me"
"It will be very special for me. To be able to play there in Euroleague and with so much excitement will be nice. We're going to face a team that needs to win, with a lot of talent, players coming back from injury and it will be the penultimate game before the break for the Copa del Rey and the windows. We want to keep on winning. Llull and Tavares are also coming back and that's very important for us. We are looking forward to it".
Situation in the Euroleague
"We're having a very good year, competing and playing as a very solid team. We're consistent, which is the most important thing to arrive at the end in the best conditions. The Euroleague format is very complicated and we have to keep improving every day as a team and keep the confidence we have".