PLAZA, JOAN
Unicaja Malaga
"When we saw our big guy go the locker room, we changed our character, gave our best and very much deserved to win. To return to the EuroLeague in this sporting way I think is incredible. My guys believed in me. They enjoyed playing. We followed the plan, we followed the plan, and finally they deserved it. For Malaga, it's incredible. For the club, 11 years without titles is so tough. And for me, it's incredible to return in this way. I enjoy, but I understand that my way to understand basketball is absolutely good for the titled, good for the players, good for our club. I would like to dedicate this to my family, to all the people of Malaga, of Andalusia, of Spain. Everybody who enjoyed this with us, with me, thanks for all the help."
""First of all, I would like to congratulate my staff and my players. Our physical trainer Rafa worked really hard because we had some injured players. We knew we would have some moments to return to the game when we were some points behind Valencia, with Alen Omic out. We managed to rally in the fourth quarter and get the victory. They have talent and believed in themselves, which is most important. I want to dedicate this trophy to all the people who believed in us and in the way we work. I would like to thank everyone in Malaga and Andalusia and from all over Spain who were happy for us. This is good for basketball, good for us. It showed we persevered and did a good job. It is easy for us to say it but when we started the series, our goal was to take it to the fourth quarter of Game 3 and have chances to win it. We had a plan: get to that point and be able to change the rhythm of the game. We had faith in pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Carlos Suarez had to play center, we were forced to play small ball, and that raised our intensity. They scored just four points in the entire fourth quarter. Jamar (Smith) was having a bad night but he was able to help us a lot. Defensively, we went to the limit, doing small things differently to surprise them. It doesn't have to work out all the time, but my players believed in their chances."