Play-offs start in Valencia 4 march 2014
Today BC Khimki left Moscow Region and headed to Valencia, Spain where on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 it will face Valencia Basket Club in the first Eurocup 2013/2014 1/8 final game. The beginning of the meeting is at 23.45 msk.
VALENCIA BASKET CLUB (SPAIN)
Founded in 1986
Team colors: orange and violet
Honors: Eurocup winner (2003, 2010), Spanish Copa del Rey winner (1998), Copa del Rey finalist (2000, 2006, 2013), ACB League finalist (2003)
Arena: Pabellon Fuente De San Luis (capacity — 9000)
President: Vicente J. Solà Sanz
Official website: www.valenciabasket.com
Rimas Kurtinaitis, BC Khimki head coach:
— We have prepared for Valencia Basket as usual. Because of the delay of one game in VTB United League we had more time for practice and rest, also had a good game in Russian Cup that helped us a lot from the point of view of training for our future opponent. Valencia plays fast; it likes speed and has good shooters. Dubljevic and Doellman play well inside and are good on the offense, Sato has great Euroleague experience, and Lafayette is a good scorer and performs well in defense. As for us we have such guys as Popovic, Green, Koponen and Vyaltsev who are perfect on defense too. I think we have advantage in frontcourt, it’s our strong side and we are going to use it on maximum. We met Valencia in 2012 Eurocup final but now it’s another team. To my mind they are one of the favorites of the Eurocup but only one team will go further. Hopefully, it will be Khimki. We go to Spain with the goal of winning this game!
James Augustine, BC Khimki forward:
— Every game is important now. I’ve played in deferent places in my career and now my main goal is to be focused to win the game. Of course, I will be glad to return to Valencia. Only Rafa Martinez and Serhiy Lishchuk remained from that time, they are really great guys, we became good friends. It will be good for me to see them again. But now I play for Khimki and will try to win with it. We don't know what we will find or how the game will go. It is a good thing that we will have our second game at home. We must just focus on playing the best we can on the road and then, at home, try to play a good game again.
Mickael Gelabale, BC Khimki forward:
— Valencia is a team I played before and for me it will be a challenge to go there and play on the road. Valencia is a good team and Khimki is a great team too so the level of the game will be very high. I expect a tough but interesting match. Eurocup final game was two years ago, now is 2014 and we expect a hard game again. First of all, we have to play a good game in Valencia and try to win it. It will be not easy, then we will see how much points we lost or won and see the difference.
Founded in 1986
Team colors: orange and violet
Honors: Eurocup winner (2003, 2010), Spanish Copa del Rey winner (1998), Copa del Rey finalist (2000, 2006, 2013), ACB League finalist (2003)
Arena: Pabellon Fuente De San Luis (capacity — 9000)
President: Vicente J. Solà Sanz
Official website: www.valenciabasket.com
Rimas Kurtinaitis, BC Khimki head coach:
— We have prepared for Valencia Basket as usual. Because of the delay of one game in VTB United League we had more time for practice and rest, also had a good game in Russian Cup that helped us a lot from the point of view of training for our future opponent. Valencia plays fast; it likes speed and has good shooters. Dubljevic and Doellman play well inside and are good on the offense, Sato has great Euroleague experience, and Lafayette is a good scorer and performs well in defense. As for us we have such guys as Popovic, Green, Koponen and Vyaltsev who are perfect on defense too. I think we have advantage in frontcourt, it’s our strong side and we are going to use it on maximum. We met Valencia in 2012 Eurocup final but now it’s another team. To my mind they are one of the favorites of the Eurocup but only one team will go further. Hopefully, it will be Khimki. We go to Spain with the goal of winning this game!
James Augustine, BC Khimki forward:
— Every game is important now. I’ve played in deferent places in my career and now my main goal is to be focused to win the game. Of course, I will be glad to return to Valencia. Only Rafa Martinez and Serhiy Lishchuk remained from that time, they are really great guys, we became good friends. It will be good for me to see them again. But now I play for Khimki and will try to win with it. We don't know what we will find or how the game will go. It is a good thing that we will have our second game at home. We must just focus on playing the best we can on the road and then, at home, try to play a good game again.
Mickael Gelabale, BC Khimki forward:
— Valencia is a team I played before and for me it will be a challenge to go there and play on the road. Valencia is a good team and Khimki is a great team too so the level of the game will be very high. I expect a tough but interesting match. Eurocup final game was two years ago, now is 2014 and we expect a hard game again. First of all, we have to play a good game in Valencia and try to win it. It will be not easy, then we will see how much points we lost or won and see the difference.
