“First of all, we finished first in the [Regular Season], but the draw we had is like we finished second. It’s a very strong group for us. We know Karşıyaka, TOFAŞ, and Brindisi are very strong teams with their own characteristics. To win anyway will be difficult. In the Top 16, there are no bad teams. They’re teams that have won games.
Personally, I have mixed feelings. I’m happy that we’ll go back to Turkey to see a lot of friends, coaches, players. On another side, I’m not so happy with how difficult it is to play against TOFAŞ and Karşıyaka. Brindisi, for sure, is having a great year in Italy. This difficult draw can turn into an advantage. I know the coaches and the players very well. I can help my team be well-prepared strategically and psychologically. We will see what we can do.
[TOFAŞ and Karşıyaka] are traditionally very good teams. Even if TOFAŞ started with a lot of problems, they [became] much better. For sure, we know that we are the weaker team; we are on a low budget. But in basketball, money or budget is not important. I will try to show the advantages and cover the disadvantages.
I think our group is the toughest one, to be honest. It’s not only because of the names; it’s also because of the forms. Brindisi is a top team in Italy. Karşıyaka is the same, and TOFAŞ lately came up. We’re also on a good run, we have had a lot of wins in Israel. It’s a group of winning teams. They’re not teams that are playing very well in the BCL, and not so good in the [domestic] league, or the opposite. All of us will have strong psychology and confidence to face each other.”