Brose baskets: respect, but no fear of the real thing
For anton gavel, it's "the most difficult away game we can have at the moment", and chris fleming says real madrid "is probably the best team in europe right now". These statements make it clear that the brose baskets on thursday (20.45 o'clock/live on sport1+) at the "royal" crass aubenseiter are. But they were in last season's top 16 at the end of february, when dontaye draper made a three-pointer in the final second to secure a 76-73 win for the real stars ensemble.
And it's precisely this result that gives bamberg's scatterbrained player gavel courage: "at the weekend, tibor pleib's team, laboral kuxta, was swept away by real with 30 points. The ma-drilenes are in very good form at the moment. It will not be easy for us. We have to build on the game we played there last year, then we might have a chance in the end."
Well-rehearsed team comes up trumps
Such a besab a week ago zalgiris kaunas not. The lithuanians suffered a 63-83 home loss to real to start the euroleague, with nikola mirotic (18 points/5 rebounds) and superstar rudy fernandez (11 points/6 rebounds/9 assists) shining. And on the weekend, coach pablo laso's team seamlessly continued its strong performance in a 105-72 home win over laboral kuxta despite ex-bamberger tibor pleib's 25 points and 8 rebounds. Sharpshooter jaycee carroll (25 points/7 threes) and playmaker sergio rodriguez (14 points/13 assists) stood out for the 2013 euroleague finalists.
"We are not yet where we want to be. Last year the game in madrid was at the end of february, we had already been playing together for a few months. Now we are just at the beginning of the season. But such games are important for us. We can fill up on self-confidence", gavel is optimistic about the herculean task ahead of him. But the shot can also backfire. "We can lose there even at 30, so we have to be very concentrated in our approach", demands the 29-year-old.
Fleming relies on goldsberry
For coach fleming, the most important thing is to control the tempo of the real stars: "madrid is playing at a very high level and with high speed at the moment. That's why john goldsberry is very important for us. He knows how to play games like this", fleming relies on his "general, who, due to the 6+6 rule in the bundesliga, is currently only used on the international stage. The importance of the strong playmaker's contribution was demonstrated the previous week in the 84:70 win over strabburg – with nine assists, the recently turned 31-year-old playmaker set the scene for his supporting players.
"The bambergers not only dominate the german league, they have also taken a step forward in europe. We have to be very focused going into the game. For me, good defense is the key to success", real-center marcus slaughter warns against underestimating his ex-club, with whom he celebrated the german championship two years ago.
