In Europe’s best eight, with home advantage and their minds set on winning one of Europe’s classic matches. Real Madrid and Maccabi Electra face each other tomorrow in the Palacio de los Deportes, in the first of a series of five matches which will decide one of the teams that will go into the Final Four. Pablo Laso, who has already calmed his team and asked them to take things day to day, spoke at the pre-match press conference: “We will have to focus and it will be important to impose a high rhythm in this match, starting with our defense and then pick our best options”.
On the subject of the opponent he said: “They are very athletic and make the most of this athleticism. Physically, I am sure that these matches will be very demanding and I think this series of matches will be long”. The playoffs are starting, and with them the fight for a place in the Final Four in London. Real Madrid will welcome Maccabi Electra to the Palacio de los Deportes, a Maccabi which, despite an inconsistent season and almost missing out on the quarter finals, got back into them and will go into them with similar figures to the Whites. Laso said that at this stage you cannot write off any of the teams who have made it to the playoffs: "We are at a stage where it is hard to talk of major differences. Maccabi has a very adaptable outer game, with three or four players who can dribble, and open up the court; they are very aggressive and steal a lot of balls. They might not have as much weight in inner positions as other teams we have faced, but they are very athletic and make the most of this athleticism. Physically, I am sure that these matches will be very demanding and I think this series of matches will be long. By that I do not necessarily mean that we have to play five matches; there will probably be three that are decided in the last minute. We have to be ready to take it one match at a time and accept that they will all be hard".
The Madrid coach, who described this fixture as "one of Europe’s classics", has asked his players to think about winning one match at a time. "Looking in at it, it is a ‘clásico’. I think we have all seen great Madrid-Maccabi matches. It is something that has continued over time and which says a lot about the level of both clubs. Both teams go into this in the same position. However, we are not thinking of the past, all we are thinking about is getting ready to face an opponent who will ask us a lot of questions. Home advantage is something you have in the last match; you have to reach the last match, and I would rather win it earlier. In a series of five matches anything can happen and I am concentrating on the first one. I am not looking any further ahead because I think it would be wrong to do so. What we are trying to get through to the boys is that we have to take it one match at a time".
With regard to his opponent, Laso said that they have a lot of strengths and that the key thing is that his team is able to be in the match for the full 40 minutes: "They have a lot of players who can dictate the pace of the match. They can dribble and extend periods of possession. They are patient in attack, they seek out the best position, and that will force us to focus hard. Also, their danger from three pointers is something we need to take into account. We will have to concentrate a lot and it will be important to impose a high pace in the match from our defense and then be able to pick our best options. At his stage in the season and at this level all the teams have improved and changed things. I think Blatt is a very good coach and, at the end of the day, his team always has a character, just like we do".
Carroll: "It is a big challenge but we are ready for it and I think we will play well”
The shooting guard from Wyoming gave the following assurance about this match: “Maccabi is in good form. The players have gelled and now they know how to play as a team in matches at the highest level, like in the Euroleague. Besides, they have a very good coach who has found the formula for beating their opponents in their group in the Top 16 after a start that was not very positive. We have to play against them with a lot of confidence because Maccabi has a lot of quality. This is a big challenge for us but we are ready and I think we are going to play well”.
Carroll thinks we will see the Real Madrid from the first Top 16 matches: “The defeats before we played Anadolu Efes helped us to see what we were doing wrong. We worked very hard in training to fix them and, as you could see against Efes, we have managed to get back to our competitive level from the start of the Top 16. I think that those defeats will help us a lot in our next match against Maccabi”.