Chus Mateo gives update on Poirier's status, recalls Obradovic's days in Madrid / News - Basketnews.com

Real Madrid head coach Chus Mateo spoke about the upcoming Game 1 against Partizan, Vincent Poirier's availability and Zeljko Obradovic's work.

Credit: Angel Martinez/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Angel Martinez/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Real Madrid are getting ready for their first game of the Euroleague playoffs this Tuesday against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (8:45 p.m.).

The coach of the Spanish team, Chus Mateo, laid down his expectations before the meeting.

"We enjoy the moment and are ready for what awaits us. We have a good chance to go to the Final Four. We know how these games are played, what is needed to go further, to leave our skin on the floor," the Spanish tactician said.

"We want to be able to look each other in the eye after every game and say that we did everything", he continued.

As for the absences, Vincent Poirier will be out for the first game, as the French center continues his recovery process:

"We will see how it evolves. Appendicitis is not a small thing and he had surgery recently," Mateo commented.

"He is undergoing a recovery process. Obviously, he won't be in the first game, but I don't know how he will evolve. Players make great efforts and sometimes recovery periods are impossible to skip. Everyone wants to be there and they are going to do everything possible to be one hundred percent, including Poirier", explained Chus Mateo.

The 10-time continental champs will face the game with just 48 hours of rest after their league commitment, an easy win over Joventut Badalona on the road, although Mateo did not want to give it any more importance:

"I won't go into that now. We have to play a very important game and it would be distracting our attention. We did not consider whether the team should have played on Saturday or Sunday morning.

The team is fine, it has recovered from the effort we made against Joventut, and ready. And that is what gives me confidence."

Mateo also referred to the most successful European coach, Zeljko Obradovic, calling him 'exceptional.' The two, the Spaniard recalled, coincided at Real Madrid in the mid-90s, when Obradovic was guiding Los Blancos to their 8th EuroLeague trophy.

"I have watched him do his job since his younger days and we even met when I was in charge of Real's juniors and he won trophies with the club," said Mateo.

"I always loved going to his training sessions and watching him work. He is a benchmark for everyone, a beast on the bench and a point of reference for all of us who want to be good coaches.

But this is not about the coaches, but the players, because they will play the games, not us", concluded the coach of Real Madrid.

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