Becirovic: “The victories gave us confidence – If Olympiacos gets to us in the playoffs, we will defend our position”

Panathinaikos AKTOR took the first of the five steps required to secure home field advantage in the Euroleague playoffs by beating Red Star Belgrade 89-76 in Game 30.

After the end of the match, the technical director of the “clover”, Sani Becirovicspoke to the Serbian website, meridiansport.rs, about the team’s great performance in the season, which he attributed to the fact that the victories gave confidence to the players, he referred to the possible meeting with Olympiakos in the playoffs, while he emphasized that in case the “clover” manages to place itself in a higher position than the “eternal” rival, this will also seal the superiority of Panathinaikos AKTOR

In detail:

“We knew it would be difficult against Red Star because they had some players coming back and they wanted a chance to get back into a competitive rhythm.”he initially said about the match with the Serbs and added:

“We played maturely, without making too many mistakes which is the key to winning big games. We didn’t allow Red Star to get many offensive rebounds and run the court.”.

He then referred to the goals that existed at the start of the year, while also commenting on Grant’s prediction for the Grand Final saying: “Realistically the results exceeded expectations! The original idea was to enter the playoffs and we succeeded in the selection of players as they achieved the right chemistry. We went from a not-so-good start to big wins in a row, which gave us confidence. Even when we were losing, we kept our heads up. Let us now try to live up to the expectations of the president and the people. After Jerian Grant said Final Four, I’ll listen to him. He is on the floor and knows better.”

As for the possibility of an “eternal” derby in the playoffs, he said: “Whatever has to happen, let it happen. Every game is special and now it counts… double, because the defeats of Monaco and Barcelona (inc. by Armani and Fener respectively) pave the way even for 2nd place. If Olympiacos makes it to the playoffs, so be it. We will defend our position to the end. As long as we finish higher than them, then it means that we are better than them and that’s how we will approach the playoffs”.