By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce head coach Zeljko Obradovic is preparing for his fifth Final Four in six years while at the helm of the Turkish powerhouse. His “home,” as he said.
“Six years ago I made a promise here. I told you that this would be my home,” Obradovic said during Fener’s Media Day ahead of the Final Four (17-19/5, Vitoria, Spain). It was very important that we are all here in the same place. All of us are players and we are trying to be the best. It’s very difficult to achieve good results without this team. When we look back, we can see what we have achieved.
Fenerbahce finished the EuroLeague regular season at the top of the standings with a 25-5 record. The team then went to beat Zalgiris Kaunas 3- 1 in the playoffs en route to making the Final Four, by defeating the Lithuanian team twice on the road. Obradovic has certainly been pleased with his team’s run towards Vitoria.
“At the beginning of the season, the goal was to return to the Final Four once more. We made some changes to reach the goal. We had some unfortunate happenings. But we still found our way to play good basketball. I thank my players. I congratulate them for a perfect season. That was our goal. To take the season game by game. We’re here right now, we’re in very good shape. Of course we also have problems.”
“I thank the young players and all players for this. I thank the fans. My players deserve their support.”
Fenerbahce won’t be at full strength in Vitoria. Forward Gigi Datome and forward/center Joffrey Lauvergne have been ruled out of the tournament while forward Nikola Kalinic and forward/center Jan Vesely is still questionable.
“I hope they will be with us in other Final Fours,” Obradovic said n Lauvergne and Datome.
In the semifinal, Fenerbahce is going to face fellow Turkish power Anadolu Efes. A quite familiar squad.
“We are two teams that know each other very well,” Obradovic commented. “We met in many games. Both teams have very good quality. It’s very important for Turkish basketball that two teams are in the Final Four. Efes deserved to be there. I congratulate them.
When asked about Ergin Ataman’s wish for Fener to lift the trophy if not Efes, Obradovic said: I wish the same for Ataman.”
Obradovic still doesn’t know how many players will have at his disposal in the Final Four. One thing that he definitely can count on is how motivated the ones present in Vitoria will be.
“Not everyone will be there but this doesn’t mean that we won’t fight. This is the character of our team. Of course, it’s about tactics as well. Our most important goal is to understand the situation and proceed accordingly. I always tell players that when you have a team of characters, you must accordingly. It’s hard every time. We have different problems this time. But the most important things are desire, motivation, and concentration.
“Our motivation is very good. The players know what’s right and what to do. Most of them give 100% and some of them more than that. As an example, I point out our captain Melih Mahmutoglu and his defense.”