Chus Mateo: “The team is hungry to pick up another win”
"Lleida are recently promoted but they're competing well in every game," underlined the coach on the eve of the matchup (Sunday, 12:30m CET).
Chus Mateo spoke to Realmadrid TV on the day prior to his team's League match against Hiopos Lleida at the WiZink Center (Sunday, 12:30pm CET): “The team has morale high and they're hungry to pick up another win. This is a dangerous game given how the opponent has looked recently. They are a recently promoted team but they're competing in every game, they've three and made life very hard for Baskonia in Vitoria last time out.”
“Lleida play an exuberant, fluid basketball at a good pace. We have to defend hard and avoid an end-to-end game, while managing the possession well as I think the game demands."
Claves
“They'll believe they will get chances to cause us problems. We can't allow ourselves to start slowly, we have to go out with our heads in the game and well aware that a win should be based on respect for the opposition."
Place in the table
“We want to be as high up as possible and show we are able to stay there. We know there is a cut-off halfway through the Regular Season for a place in the Copa del Rey and we have to try and be towards the top at all times, ensuring we're among the first four."
Danger
“They're a fearless team, they play at a really high pace and try to make the most of their specialist shooters. They have three guys who are scoring a lot of points from outside and they can cause us real problems if we're unable to defend those shots well. They have a good blend of youth and experience."