The coach of Kosner Baskonia, Paolo Galbiati, was euphoric as he entered the press room, greeting many journalists from Vitoria. He then sat down in the Roig Arena press room to video call Quinn Ellis, a player he coached last season who also just won the Cup with Milan and was on the bus with his team returning. After that, he left the press room and returned a few minutes later with Trent Forrest.
Your assessment of the tournament?
“I am very happy for my players and my staff. I am disappointed for those who aren’t here. We were up until 3 in the morning finishing work for today—physios, video people… It was a very tough match. We started off very poorly, but then we had defense. On offense, we tried to move Madrid’s defense from side to side. 17-33 in the final period is an exciting statistic. I am very happy. I have to thank many people: my family, my girlfriend, Luis Scola who signed me. Last summer, someone from Baskonia called to ask about me. Also, a fantastic person: the wife of my vice president from Trento. I’m sending a hug. I’ll miss mentioning people, but they know.”
How important is the human group?
“We have worked hard to unite the group. With professionals of this caliber, it’s not easy to create this chemistry, desire to play, suffer together, help each other… I’m happy about that.”
If someone told you this in October…
“Survive and advance. Based on how the season started, in November they could have fired me. I am a survivor. Thanks to the players who believed in my work. I think the work pays off. The staff has worked a lot, following me. This Cup will unite us for life. In the end, we play for memories.”
How special was it to win against Sergio Scariolo?
“That’s not a thought in my head right now. I am happy for my team, my fans, my family. Real Madrid is a very good team. Campazzo is a headache. Hezonja when he hit those three-pointers like yesterday, Tavares… Sergio has many trophies. My dream is to win many trophies like him.”
What was Baskonia’s tactic?
“In the first half, we started playing with slow situations. Talking with the staff, we said: ‘Play fast.’ The idea was to attack Tavares with the pop screens, but we were slow. When we started moving from side to side, we improved. I like to defend like animals, but we shared the ball to attack.”
