Chus Mateo: “The hard work the players are putting in is a credit to them”
“We're on a good run at home and we're playing pretty well”, said Ndiaye ahead of the Asvel game.
Chus Mateo and Ndiaye talked ahead of the Real Madrid-Asvel game on Round 25 of the Euroleague (Thursday, 8.45pm; Movistar Deportes). The coach had this to say about the game at the WiZink Center: "We have to go bit by bit and not be impatient about achieving our objective. We're following the path we set ourselves at the start of the year, which is to be as high as possible in the standings in order to take home-court advantage. I think we're doing well, especially at home. We have to continue in this vein and if we're patient we'll achieve our objective sooner or later".
"I'm very happy with what we're doing at the moment. Last year we had 23 wins in the Regular Season and at this stage there are 10 games left and we have 21. Hopefully we can get the first places to have an advantage and we're in that fight. Naturally, to think at the start of the season that we were going to have such a good run was not unthinkable, but it was a very difficult objective. I'm pleased because the hard work the players are putting in is a credit to them".
Mentality
"It was a difficult game yesterday where the opposition have a lot of attacking talent. It seemed like we could finish the game off at times, in the third and fourth quarters, but they came back, and we reacted very well. The team is ambitious and doesn't want to lose any games. We never give up. There's lots of games and we're trying to play well in all of them. There are four games left to play before the Copa del Rey and we're going all out to win them".
Ndiaye: "We're at ease at the WiZink Center"
"It's a very tough week but it's been a good start. We're aware that we've got some people out injured but we'll try to give our all to win the two remaining games after the win against Maccabi".
Opponents
"Asvel is a very strong and physical team. We have to play well in defence. We're on a very good run at home, where we're playing pretty well. We're at ease at the WiZink Center and the fans are really helping us".
21 wins
"We know that the Euroleague is very challenging and every game counts. We'll do everything we can to keep winning and qualify for the playoffs. We're a team, everyone plays their part and those who are here can play in different positions. Yabusele and Hezonja are back and that will help us too".