The second time…
Josh Childress will play in a Final Four for a second time and this is something very important for the American. “Chili” is one of Olympiacos leaders this season and he was the one to carry the team on his shoulders at the game that sealed qualification…
“I’m excited because a second consecutive Final Four is a great achievement. We are all happy for that. It doesn’t matter that Panathinaikos will not be there because we will play against an equally good team at the semi finals or the final should we make it. For sure, it’s not going to be the great Greek duel that has a lot of interest, but there are going to be some great games and we have to be 100% ready”, the 27 old forward stressed.
“Chili” spoke about the match up with Woods: “He’s a great player. He’s athletic and we are very much alike in the way we play. It’s always good to play against such players”.
What changed in comparison to the first game in Gdynia? “The difference with Tuesday’s game is that tonight we remained focused. We did not go after the rebounds in the previous game and we did not play defense. Tonight we had been good from the beginning. It was a pride game and we played with energy as a team”.
As for the Final Four semi final? “Partizan is going to be a tough opponent. They have made an incredible season up to now and let’s not forget that they have already beaten us once. There’s time to prepare for that game. Now it’s nice to celebrate qualification a little bit, get some rest and go back to work on Monday”.
Patrick Beverly was the hidden ace in Panagiotis Giannakis sleeve and had major contribution in the qualification: “This is a great success for sure. I am 21 years old and it’s important for me to be in the Final Four. I sure prefer it to the NCAA”.
The American guard believes that he has become better this year: “I have learned a lot this season. From Teo, Milos and Scoonie. When the time comes for me to come into the game I try to be ready and help the team and I think I just did that tonight. Defense is my strong point and that’s what I’ve been trying to do. I hope I can help the team in the Final Four and why not, dunk (laughing)”.
Beverly was asked whether he will be able to guard Navarro in case the two teams meet in the Final:
“Once I was at home in Ukraine and I had been watching Navarro. He’s a very good player; I’m a fan of his. Excellent execution, very fast feet, should we meet in the final it’s going to be interesting and fun, but first we have to play a great team at the semi final”.
Scoonie Penn also spoke on the qualification victory: “Today we came on the court like a big team. The great difference was that we did well at rebounding and we didn’t make mistakes. We did not play the way we could have on Tuesday and we wanted in no case to have to play another game. We did that. There has been some great motivation and after the Tuesday game we had been kind of down and mad at ourselves. We talked about it, we practiced well on Wednesday and we knew we were going to win”.
The American guard believes that the qualification to the Final Four is absolutely fair: “We deserved it to make it to Paris, we tried very hard and now we can enjoy. It’s the second time for me in a Final Four, since I have played with Ohio at the NCAA and it’s something great, believe me”.
As for his future… “If I stop, then it would be great to do it being a European Champion. I want to be at the top when I stop. It will be good to win another title, we have a chance. I don’t know if I’m going to stop. I feel very well physically. I think I can easily play two or even three more years, but I don’t know”.