We are in the playoffs!

CSKA showed mettle in the second half of difficult game against Fenerbahce Ulker and clinched the playoffs birth with one Top 16 game left to play.

CSKA vs. Fenerbahce Ulker: 77-60

Ettore Messina:

“This win is very important for us not only because we qualified for a playoffs, but also because we did it one game ahead of schedule for a fourth year in a row. Though we know that a quarterfinals will be difficult whatever opponent we will have. We opened the game very, very well, but in the second quarter we relaxed on defense and made a lot of mistakes in offense. Our opponent also shot with a great percentage from a three-point range in the first half. So we had to play hard in the third and fourth quarters to win the game. Khryapa and Morris as two big men allowed us to have more quickness and the team started to move the ball better in offense.”

Bogdan Tanjevic:

“That was a great game won by a great team. We managed to show enough energy for 25 minutes only, we tried to save hope but it was still very difficult because we had to win both against CSKA and Siena in two final games of the Top 16. Now, mentioning also Cibona, we should assume that this group was very tough. But we had a lot of difficulties. After the injuries to Erden, Turkcan, Giricek we had to get this players back to their best shape and the team started to regress, because it used to play without them. But hopefully we will start to play better in the end of the season. It is good that we have a lot of young and talented players, and our best rebounder and shot-blocker Omer Asik is close to return on the court. This time we couldn’t use our advantage under the basket. Erden is still far from his best shape and Savas missed 4 of 7 shots from under the basket. And when you start missing those shots the moral of the team goes down. What is more difficult is that we lost three games in a row so we have to find a ways to get our confidence back.”