Final Four - Pablo Laso: "CSKA has a great physical level and is probably the big favorite"

 Pablo Laso, Real Madrid

by: Javier Gancedo, Euroleague.net

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona Regal face each other in a Turkish Airlines Euroleague semifinal for the first time since 1996. All players in that game have obviously retired 17 years later, but Pablo Laso returns to the Final Four this year, this time as head coach of Madrid, the team he played point guard for in 1996. In his second season on Madrid's bench, Laso has put los blancos back in the spotlight, not only winning enough games to reach the Final Four, but doing it with an attractive, run-and-gun playing style that has impressed both fans and basketball experts. Indeed, Madrid qualified to the Final Four before any other team and arrives with every intention of conquering its ninth Euroleague title and first since 1995. An elite point guard as a player – he is the Spanish League's all-time leader in assists and steals – Laso faces the biggest challenge of his short, promising coaching career. He is fully aware of the great opportunity that he and his team have ahead, he told Euroleague.net. "You have pressure and responsibility from the first day you start wearing this jersey," Laso said. "You have to find the way to wear it with pride. Winning the Euroleague would ratify the work we did throughout the season. We had to go a long way to get this chance."

Hello, Coach. Real Madrid had a solid season until now and got to the Final Four sooner than anyone else. Does the team arrive, as it looks, in the best condition to go for the Euroleague title?

"Well, I believe that the team is arriving well to this Final Four. It has been a different Euroleague, with many games, with the Top 16 starting in late December and finishing in early April, which is a long time. You always compete against difficult teams and have to fight hard to get here. It was a tough playoff for us, too. The 3-0 score may make it look easy, but it wasn't. Each game was difficult and the team knew that April would be a difficult month, with many important games, and that we hoped to keep competing in May. Right now we are in a good moment, knowing that it is not easy to go to a Final Four and that we have an important chance - just as the other three teams."

Your team is seen as offensive-minded, but proved in the playoffs against Maccabi to have top-class defense, too. Is that something you focused on as the season went by?

"I think that all teams try to grow and get better. I am aware that I have a team with great offensive talent. That is what everybody has highlighted about Real Madrid. It is our identity as a team: play fast, try to make the most out of fast transitions and don't hesitate when we have open shots. In the end, there are many aspects in this game and you have to improve them all to play this way: defense, screens, rebounding, sharing the ball. The team has managed to grow. It is true that if you only look at the playoffs against Maccabi, the team responded well defensively, because we all know that if we want to win big games, we have to do well on offense and defense, as well as on rebounding and many other things."

It is your second season as Euroleague head coach. What did you learn last year to do better this season?

"I think we learned a lot from last season. If you see last year's results in the Euroleague, a team that lost more games than us ended up winning the title. From the beginning of this season, we tried to leave no doubt about the importance of each game, but that there are also games marked in red on the calendar, such as playoffs, big games in the Top 16. We knew it would be a different competition and, as coach, it is something that you have to give value. Last season, due to tie-break disadvantages, we won four out of six Top 16 games, but were out. This is something I tried to focus on this season. We believe in our playing style since last season, and from that moment, we have been able to grow and improve. I think I also had that growth as a coach, too."

Real Madrid is set to play against Barcelona in a Final Four for the first time since 1996. You were there as a player. What do you remember about that game?

"My memories do not have much to do with what we can expect nowadays. Obviously, none of the players that were in that game are active. The only one repeating from that game is me, who played that game and will coach the next Euroleague semifinal. Even the team delegates have changed. What remains is the sports rivalry, the fact that you play against a team from your same league and country. That rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona goes back many years and is present in football and basketball. From that game in 1996, my memories are that it was a great game and we lost. In this kind of game, the score prevails over the great work the team did to get to the Final Four. I remember our path to the Final Four, how we managed to get there and the bitter taste of not playing the final. This time is a whole different story, we are different teams with our own strengths, and that game is way behind us."

How does this clasico - being played outside Spain, with a major goal to achieve and the whole basketball world watching - compare to others you have coached in the last two years?

"First of all, it shows the quality of our domestic competition, the Liga Endesa. We had three Spanish teams in the playoffs, the best eight teams in Europe: Baskonia, Barcelona and us. I believe that we and Madrid have played each other 12 times in the last two years. Both teams know each other well and see each other a lot during the season. Still, every time that happens, it is a big, important game. It is true that this one will be in the eyes of every basketball fan, and that's an extra. It is a Euroleague Final Four seen all around the world and the first time in many years that we face each other outside our country, in a totally different environment. It is a very attractive game, as is every game in the Final Four or any game played between Madrid and Barcelona. We are talking about two of the best four teams in Europe."

Of course, stopping Navarro will be one of your team's priority. In general, how can you limit a player with such incredible scoring talent?

"Above all, we have to know that Navarro is a special player, able to generate baskets on his own, who is always hard to guard and plays for the team. It is like having a short blanket in bed. If you try to cover for Navarro against a team with so many good players as Barcelona, you are uncovered somewhere else and players like Jawai, Huertas, Tomic, Ingles or anyone can damage you. When we talk about teams with so much potential, you cannot focus on stopping a particular player. They are all high-level players that can be decisive. It is also true that facing a player like Navarro is always an extra motivation. You know that he can decide games by himself, but I also have players with great talent. In the end, you will see two teams facing each other and trying to minimize their opponents' abilities."

Does your players' lack of Final Four experience, especially compared to players like Navarro, Lorbek or Jasikevicius, worry you in any way?

"If it all depended on Final Four experience, Barcelona would be the clear favorite. In the end, there are a lot of important aspects. Most of my players have been in big games, not only in the Euroleague, but in national team competitions and also in the Spanish League. I consider that I have a young team, but it is also experienced in these kinds of games. Barcelona has this plus, as some of their players have played the Final Four and know what it is about. In that sense, my team is really focused on the Final Four. These are very important games and I know that the team is fully aware of that importance. I am sure that they will step on court with the right mentality."

CSKA Moscow and Olympiacos Piraeus will face each other in the other semifinal. What kind of game can we expect from them?

"It is difficult to know. Well, it is difficult to know how our game will be, and the other semifinal can be even more complicated to read. CSKA has a great physical level and is probably the big favorite. At least, all the betting houses give CSKA as the favorite since the beginning of the season, due to its athleticism and talent. Last year, however, that was not enough to win the same game. Olympiacos has kept a lot of the things that allowed the team to win the Euroleague title: game control, being able to overcome tough situations during a game and turn them around. It has young players who are improving a lot. I expect a very balanced game that will come down to the details."

The Laso family has been in basketball for many decades. What would it mean to see one of its members lift the Euroleague trophy?

"I am not much into thinking what things mean. I am more into working every day, making my team work and enjoying a game as much as I enjoy a practice. The Euroleague title is a big achievement, probably the biggest way to recognize your hard work, the effort you put. It is something you want to get from the beginning of the season, but I wouldn't like it to be the end of anything. The Euroleague title is something huge, something you keep talking about forever, as I do with my assists and steals records in the Spanish League as a player. It stays in time and that is important, but you aspire that it is a beginning, especially on the team I work for. You expect to continue improving. Of course, wins help you to win more and are prestigious. I hope you can ask me the same question in two weeks' time as a Euroleague champion! At the same time, I am aware of how difficult it has been and how much we enjoyed the road to the Final Four."

Of course, Real Madrid remains the winningest club in European basketball, but with just one Euroleague title in more than three decades. How would you feel if you were able to add another continental crown now, opening a new chapter in this club's history?

"Well, it would a matter of great satisfaction. From the first day you become the team's coach, you are aware of the great responsibility you have. This is great club, known worldwide. You know how demanding is to coach this team. For instance, we won the Copa del Rey last season after many years, too. When we got to the airport, some fans were there to thank us for the title. It is something you have to accept since you start coaching the team. The fact that Madrid has not won the Euroleague in so many years shouldn't bring more pressure, but we shouldn't think that nothing happens if we lose. You have pressure and responsibility from the first day you start wearing this jersey. You have to find the way you wear it with pride. Winning the Euroleague would ratify the work we did throughout the season. We had to go a long way to get this chance."