Chus Mateo: “We have to make a huge effort and give it our all”

Chus Mateo spoke ahead of the third clash of the playoff semi-finals against Joventut, which will be played at the Olímpico de Badalona on Saturday (6.30pm CET): “It will be a completely different story and I hope it goes well. We still have the ability to surprise. It'll be a long playoff series and we have to be prepared to be able to spring a surprise and to be able to respond. What's important is that the players respond by providing solutions with the same energy as they showed yesterday. We have improved on that and I'm pleased. We have to dig in our heels and whatever is left, we'll give it our all.”

“We have to find enough energy. The season is coming to an end and we're all physically and mentally tired, but we have to make one more push. We want to get into the final, although Joventut won't make it easy for us because they're a great team, who are playing really well. Yesterday we defended well in the first quarter, we defended well in the third quarter and we defended very well in the last quarter. We only conceded 33 points in the second half and I'm pleased with that and the win. But that's behind us now. We won without shooting high percentages from three-point range and that says a lot about the defence.”

Defending Guy
“He's a player who can score and you can't forget him. The team's defensive work was really good at all levels. Hanga and Rudy did an extraordinary job but so did the rest of the team. We also did a great job on Tomic. You can't overlook any of them.”

Motivation
“It's not difficult to motivate them because in our team we always aim for the best. They have that inside them. It's the engine that keeps us going. When things go wrong, the team digs deep and pushes hard. During the year the demands are huge and we forget that now is the time to do our best. You always have the demand to win and to perform at a good level in many moments of the year, and it's not easy.”

Poirier
“He looked surprisingly good because he's been out of action for a long time. It's great for us to minimize Tavares' minutes. He had quality minutes, as Randolph and Eli had previously done. I'm pleased with how the team understands that sometimes it takes a different kind of work to make the team excel. He was good and put in intensity and energy."