"Defense helped us against Aris, until the time we started scoring with 3-point-shots. Coach told us at half time that we need to be more careful at rebounds and play faster, because the opponent is a good team and managed to return once already. At the beginning of the season we had a lot of players tired from Eurobasket and lost some matches, but now we have improved and won four consecutive Euroleague games.
At my three previous years in the time, we were eliminated at the quarter finals of Euroleague, but we never had home game advantage. It is very important for me, I think we can beat anybody in the 5th game in Olympic Stadium. I am always optimistic and I believe to our team, now I have more Europe experience and I can study the opponents more easily. February is the most difficult month for me, the upcoming game against Fenerbahce and my friend Jan Vesely is very important.
This season is special for one more reason, is the last of Dimitris Diamantidis. He is a real legend and enjoys the respect of friends and enemies, one of the greatest of all times. I am proud for playing along him, I learned a lot from his wisdom and he is also an excellent guy out of the pitch. After his resignation, Nick Calathes will be the next team's leader, but he will also need good players along him to lead it to glory", said the American power forward at his SDNA interview.
