Reporting from Berlin: Bugra Uzar/ info@eurohoops.net
In the first Final Four of his career, Nikola Kalinic will have a chance to compete for the Euroleague crown of the champion.
This qualification, however, did not come that easily, as the Fenerbahce forwards revealed: “We started the game perfectly but after the 10-0 they began reacting. We knew they are going to do that. Then they played a great third quarter and were on fire at some moment. At the end we showed what kind of team we are and that’s how we won the game”.
And now the next opponent is CSKA Moscow. What does Kalinic think about the Russian team? “CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce have been the best teams in Europe. They have shown that many times during the season. The final is going to be amazing game, with great basketball”.
Fenerbahce had some problems during the final minutes in the final quarter with its shooting. But Kalinic prefers to not linger on them: “We miss some shots and we make some shots. That’s the game. But that’s the important thing is to always remain focused and then win”. And how did his team won against Laboral Kutxa? “Perhaps its a cliche but defense wins titles. And in the final moment we defended pretty well and that gave us the positive result”.
The presence of Fener‘s fans in Berlin, have impressed the Serbian player. He knows that they are going to be a lot more of them in the title game: “On Sunday it is going to be even more crowded with yellow shirts. They are going to be crazy! It is great to play here. And we have a great opportunity to win a Euroleague title in front of these fans. The first for us and the first for the Turkish basketball”.
The last part led to our next question. Fenerbahce has made history by becoming the first Turkish team that has ever reached a Euroleague Final. How does Nikola Kalinic feels about being a part of this? “It feels good. We were all brought to this team in order to play finals win titles. Every player that came during summer came exactly for this reason: To win the Euroleague. This is our goal. We have been practicing all season long for this”.