Hezonja, Musa and Mateo talk Real Madrid's season, playoffs and beyond / News - Basketnews.com

Three names from Real Madrid, Mario Hezonja, Dzanan Musa, and Chus Mateo, talked about how their team's season evolved and what they are expecting from the playoffs and beyond.

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Real Madrid has undoubtedly been the best EuroLeague team this season, guaranteeing to finish the regular season in first place and being able to bounce back after a recent slump.

2-pointers this season

58%21,3Points made:21,3Accuracy:57,8%Place in standings:7Record max:32Record min:12Most made 2FGs:Walter TavaresTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

In an interview with EuroLeague Basketball, team head coach Chus Mateo and star forwards Dzanan Musa and Mario Hezonja talked about Real's wildly successful season and how they should be preparing for the playoffs and beyond.

"[It's] kind of unrealistic to come into the season to say 'Okay, we will have 18 wins in the first 20 games' or something like that. But right now, we see our roster. The way we talk to each other, the way we protect each other in the court. We just stay in the present. I think that's the key to [our] success this season," explained Musa.

The Bosnian forward was joined by his Croatian counterpart, who emphasized the negative impact that strong performances may have in terms of creating complacency.

"When they say we're [having] an extremely well season, this can be bad for us because if we adapt to this, then we don't need to push hard. It can be very, very devastating..."

On the other hand, the team's head coach, Chus Mateo, talked about the positive effect of the team's locker room and their mental approach.

"We try to do our job from the beginning of the season. We are trying to play with our style and to do the right things in the practices. Of course, our mentality is helping a lot. Our locker room is great, how they join [together] in bad moments too," said Mateo.

Later on, the forwards talked about the post-season, lessons from last year's Final Four, and the importance of respecting opponents.

"It's going to be hard. It's going to be 0-0, obviously, and we have to have maximum respect to whoever our opponent is going to be. Just focus on one game at a time," explained Hezonja.

"Olympiacos played a great season last season and everybody thought that they were going to win it. Then at the end, we came and snatched it," recalled Musa the eventful final game of last year. "The real basketball has to start right now. We have to be on our peak," he concluded.

Chus Mateo had a slightly different perspective on the matter.

"When this moment comes, we will start to think about it. Now, the only thing that is important for us is our practice today and the next game. That's it. We don't want to lose our focus," he concluded.

This season, Real Madrid is guaranteed to finish the regular season first. As of Round 31, the royalty team has 25 wins and 6 losses.

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