By Alex Madrid/ info@eurohoops.net
The 39-year-old Felipe Reyes has been with Real Madrid since 2004 and after winning the EuroLeague titles in 2015 and 2018, the Spaniard is still hungry and lifting his third EuroLeague trophy is the only thing on his mind as the Final Four gets closer: “Lifting the trophy is the only thing that obsesses me, it’s the only thing I think about. For this, we have two teams in front of us. I can’t say who I prefer in the Final”, he said during Real Madrid’s media day.
What does his squad need in order to repeat last year’s success? Nerves of steel: “You have to control your nerves. We are going to encounter a very complicated game, very tough and very physical. The team that ends up reaching the final and raising this type of titles is tougher. The one that has played better basketball but has also controlled the nerves, which in this type of games can cost you a defeat.”
CSKA’s Sergio Rodríguez confirmed that he has fully recovered for the Final Four but Reyes didn’t doubt that at all, he knew Rodriguez would show up even he hadn’t been fully ready: “El Chacho will be 100%, for sure. It is the Final Four, he has had little recovery time, but in this type of matches, there is no pain. He will be very motivated after we eliminated them last year in the semifinals. He will want to play the Final with CSKA, he will be very motivated and won’t notice the ankle. ‘Chacho’ will be 100% and we, if we want to win, we shouldn’t worry about just one player. He is very important because he makes his teammates play, he distributes and when he feels comfortable he makes the rest have fun.”