MADRID, 7 Apr. (SportsFinding) –
The coach of Real Madrid, Pablo Laso, insisted this Thursday that his level of confidence in his squad is “always maximum”, at the same time that he recognized that “it is mandatory” that the team play better every day, although it is not “so silly” to say that the results “doesn’t matter to him”, after emphasizing that the match against Bayern in the Euroleague, which will define his position for the ‘playoff’, is not a match to “have pressure”.
“When you win it seems that everything is going well and you have confidence. When you come from losing there are always doubts, but I would not like us to doubt, because, regardless of the position, the rival (in the ‘playoff’) will be very difficult. It could be Monaco, Efes or Maccabi, I don’t think about who can touch me and tomorrow’s game is not a game to have that pressure. We have home court advantage, I wouldn’t understand if that would generate pressure on us, yes, coming from losing”, commented Laso in the preview of the duel this Friday against the German team.
The Madrid club faces the match, which will close the regular phase for the Whites, with “the peace of mind of having secured the field factor in the ‘playoff’, in a competition” that is very demanding, with the best in Europe. “I don’t think about that pressure, I don’t think it should affect us,” he repeated.
“My level of trust with the team is the same at the beginning as it is today, it’s always maximum, it doesn’t change. Because I think it would hurt the team if I didn’t believe in them, I believe in everyone. I always value the work my team does for good and for worse, my level of confidence is always maximum”, assured Laso forcefully, confirming that he has the entire squad available, with Anthony Randolph and Adam Hanga already recovered.
“I’M NOT SO FOOLISH AS TO SAY THAT THE RESULTS DON’T MATTER TO ME”
The Madrid coach admitted that the team is going through a “complicated” moment, with three consecutive defeats in the Euroleague. “When you lose two games in a row, it makes me understand that it is a problem of lack of continuity in the game. It cannot be that we have 30 minutes good and 10 bad or vice versa, we lack continuity and we have to work on it”, analyzed the coach, aware that the most important thing is the results.
“Players don’t like to lose. Winning sometimes isn’t all right and losing isn’t all bad, this isn’t so easy to understand. If everything goes well, the results give you confidence that you’re doing well. No I am so foolish as to say that the results do not matter to me,” he reflected.
And for this last regular phase match, which marks the start of the final stretch of the season, Laso believes that the mood has to be “good”, because, although they are playing for second place, they have home court advantage. “My obligation is to make the team see where we are, that means the emotional part. There are many situations that the coach must control. There are seasons in which everything goes more smoothly and others in which it costs you more,” he added.
Opposite will be Bayern, a “quite solid” team, which had “a great game against Red Star” and was “very competitive in Istanbul”, when “they didn’t play so much either”. “It’s a very competitive team, with two good centers, injuries have made players with less prominence grow at the beginning of the season. Djedovic and Lucic give them a lot of presence and experience. There are teams with more names that don’t play ‘playoffs’ and they play it, it speaks very well of them”, he pointed out about the rival.
Finally, Laso assessed the possible lack of connection with the stands in recent games. “It’s a two-way street. I always ask for the support of the public, because it’s very important to us. We have to give them that energy and sense of identification. We have to get the fan involved and into the game. The fan will It gives the support, but you also have to give it. It is mandatory to play better every day, a show with which people feel recognized, “he settled.