By Bugra Uzar/ buzar@eurohoops.net
Obradovic finished his press conference with the following words about Stefanou: “Ι have to say something that’s very important to me. Before the game, we have a moment of silence for a person who was dear to me, the former general manager of Panathinaikos. I didn’t know about this, I was informed just before the game and I am really sad, because he was one of the best people I have met in my life. In my 13 years in Panathinaikos he was the person who was ready to help anyone any moment. I feel really, really bad. He was one of the best persons I have met in my life.
Obradovic after Fenerbahce’s win over Crvena Zvezda was also asked about the return of Pero Antic: “Ηe is a leader for the young players of Crvena Zvezda like he was a leader over here”.
For the game, Obradovic explained: “There’s a very difficult schedule. It is understandable that Crvena Zvezda was very tired because they had two long trips to play in Valencia, then in Montenegro and then coming over here is not an easy situation. Also for us, I am thinking about the next game that we will play against Maccabi. I tried to rotate all the players and the key was the defense”.
Jan Vesely wanted this win for the fans: “Of course, home games are special because of our fans. They are making a great atmosphere. Every game is important for us and we have to play much better on our home court. We lost our last game at home, so we had to play much better. It is not easy: we prepared well for this game and stuck to our game plan. We didn’t do that against Zalgiris. We did a great job today and have to continue. It is important that everybody helped the team and were ready. That is a very important thing. It is not easy because we played Sunday, today and in 48 hours. It is important that everybody plays and the rotation is so long.”
Crvena Zvezda’s coach Dusan Alimpijevic added: “Fenerbahce has a warriors’ mentality and they take away what they want. For us, this game was a big lesson”.