Fresh off a critical, come-from-behind home win against Bayern, Unicaja faces its most important game so far this season. Its main pillar until now has been former two-time All-Eurocup power forward Nik Caner-Medley, who has been unstoppable lately, scoring 14 points or more in six of his last seven Euroleague games. Caner-Medley leads Unicaja in scoring (15.4 ppg.), rebounds (5.4 rpg.) and performance index rating (17.4 per game). In this Euroleague.net interview, Caner-Medley speaks about his season with Unicaja, Coach Joan Plaza and of course, the decisive showdown at Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy on Thursday. "We are competitors and one of our goals is making it to the Top 16 — and that is not a secret. We realize it is a big game and are going to prepare it with the maximum focus," Caner-Medley told Euroleague.net. "We are going to a place where it is very difficult to win, against a good team, but with the mentality that we are there to win."

Hello, Nik. Unicaja faces a make-or-break game against Montepaschi Siena this week. How is the team getting ready for this high-pressure showdown?

"Well, I think that last week it was the same type of game for us, mentally. Obviously, there are some difference circumstances but we approached the game at home against Bayern Munich as a game we felt like we needed to win to keep things in our hands. We are going to have a high level of focus. This is one of those games where if you win, you go to the Top 16, and if you don't, you take things out of your hands. We are going to prepare, be really focused and try to have very good practices this week, which is important. We will prepare the best we can. Everybody on our team knows that it is a very important game. We have a very good group of guys and I think everybody is going to take it very seriously, prepare very hard and go for it."

Unicaja beat Bayern Munich last week, rallying in the fourth quarter. Does that show the team has what it takes to win decisive games?

"The unique thing about the Euroleague and something that makes it exciting is that having just 10 games in the first round, every one of them is a big one. If you look at some of the games we had, we lost one of them at the buzzer, we were ahead by double figures in the second half against Olympiacos and lost that game in the fourth quarter. We had some very close, tough games, even on the road against Galatasaray we had a lead that we lost at the end. The one thing we can take from last week's game against Bayern is that it was the other way around: we were down, came back and it was a great home win for us, our fans were great. It is a really positive thing that we can take from that game as we prepare for this one on Thursday."

Unicaja already lost against Montepaschi in Malaga, on a last-second shot by Jeff Viggiano. How tough was that loss and how difficult to bounce back from?

"Losing at the buzzer always has you looking back and me, personally, I missed two free throws. I was fouled on a three-point shot and missed two of the three attempts with over a minute left in that game. The guy who I was guarding is the one who made the shot at the buzzer. Myself, personally, it is one of those games that, when you lose at the buzzer and look at all the small details, you are very critical of yourself. It should be that way, because you were literally one or two plays away from winning it, and looking in retrospect, if we had won that game, we would be in the Top 16 right now. I think it is a tough loss and in order to get better, you have to be self-critical, look at the things that you could have done better and hopefully the next time around, use it as experience in an important game."

Is the team preparing the game as if it was a regular one or is there an extra focus or motivation, knowing how important the game is?

"I think there is definitely an extra focus and motivation. You can't sit here and say 'Oh, it just another game for us', because the reality is... that it is not! It is a game that we need to win and want to win it. We are competitors and one of our goals is making it to the Top 16 — and that is not a secret. We realize it is a big game and are going to prepare it with the maximum focus. We are going to a place where it is very difficult to win, against a good team, but with the mentality that we are there to win."

You will face Spencer Nelson, a player you know very well. How much are you looking forward to that matchup and what do you like about him?

"Spencer is a great player: I am familiar with him from when he played in Gran Canaria. There are a lot of things he brings to a team — he is a shooter, athletic and a good rebounder. They have a lot of guys on that team who are talented. We realize that we are going against a talented team that is playing good basketball. As far as Spencer goes, he is dangerous. We are watching videos of him and other players at my position. Obviously, Tomas Ress is a veteran and Jeff Viggiano played a little '4' when Nelson was out. All these guys can shoot the ball and are very dangerous. I have been in games in which Ress has hit some really big shots late in the game. He is a clutch player and this is the type of game where players like that are dangerous. We have to scout hard, know every player's tendency and focus on the game plan. Be ready to go."

You lead Unicaja in scoring and rebounds in this Euroleague season, being a very important player in this team. Is that what you looked for when you joined the club?

"Obviously, the things that I focused on, personally, is working hard and having myself ready to play and work hard in practice. I had a great off-season: I was healthy, which was key for me coming back this year after a lot of injuries. I have expectations of myself playing at a certain level and all I can do is focus on what I can control, work hard, etc. I came to this team with guys I am familiar with after playing in Spain for many years. I am familiar with the coach and this is a really good group of guys that I knew I was going to be able to fit in with."

This is your second Euroleague season after a year with Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv. How tough was to adjust to the Euroleague after being a dominant player in the Eurocup?

"For me, personally, the most frustrating part of the season was starting off the year not being 100% physically. I had a serious injury to my hamstring in December and it was tough to find a spot in our rotation. Maccabi had Lior Eliyahu, who was having a great season when I was injured. He was playing great and the reality, when you come back from an injury, is that you have to earn minutes. It was a situation that I wasn't familiar with. It had been a long time since I came off the bench and played a smaller role with less minutes. The one thing I really learned about it as a player is that when you play five or six years with a lot of minutes, is that you have to adjust to play less. When you are not healthy and you try to adjust to a different role, it is not easy at all. I am healthy this season and that is the most important thing overall, the key. I think that, honestly, a lot of things would have gone different in Maccabi if I had been healthy. You look back and it is what it is. All I can do is learn from it. I feel like I came into this season and did the right things and at the end of the day I worked really, really hard. I was really focused, tried to learn from that experience and it made me better."

Unicaja has changed a lot with Coach Joan Plaza aboard. Your game seems to fit his mentality, too. How do you like playing for him?

"I think that a lot of times, as a player, with the more experience you have, you start to learn things. We had a conversation during the summer and that is the type of things you talk about. You start to learn different playing styles. When you are younger, you pick a team on its name or the league it's in, but as a player, you have to find out about the coach's systems, the type of players you will be playing with. I had the benefit of having a conversation with Coach Plaza this summer and he told me which his expectations were and how excited he was about this season. When I spoke to him, it was very clear to me that it was best situation for me because it is Spain, a league that I really love, a country that has become a second home to me. My family, my parents, my friends spent a lot of time in Spain and as a family, we really love Spain. I will have a residence someday to live here, whatever my next job will be.

"On top of that fact, when I talked to Plaza, I was familiar with him from Sevilla. I spoke to him before signing with Valencia because I was seriously looking at Sevilla partially because of him. I am familiar with his open system in which the '4' plays on the perimeter a lot — a kind of a stretch 4 system that Plaza has. If you look at Dusko Savanovic, he was fantastic in his system. Luka Bogdanovic was also great because these guys stretch the '4'. I spoke to Tyrone Ellis, who is like a mentor to me. One of the biggest keys for me is that I played with some really, really good professionals and learned a lot of things, on and off the court, from Ty Ellis. He is the picture of a professional basketball player: the way he carries himself off the court, the way he takes cares of himself... Ty had nothing but good things to say about Plaza and thought the same way about how I fit into his system.

"Now that I am playing for him, he is a coach that I love playing for. He understands the psychology of basketball and is very supportive of his players. He finds ways to give his players confidence. At the same time, he is very intense and demands a high intensity on defense. For me, that has always been a natural part of my game and I knew I would fit in well with a coach that appreciates a guy who rebounds, gets to the passing lanes, pressures the ball and plays aggressive on the pick-and-roll. You need to have a certain level of athleticism in his system. You can see why a guy like Fran Vazquez is excelling in his system — the things that he can bring to the '5' position stand out in Plaza's system. It is similar for me: my strengths have been magnified in his system and the way he makes us play."

Unicaja has made it to the Top 16 each of the last eight seasons. How much of a disappointment would it be not being there?

"Our goal as a team and my goal, individually, was making it to the Top 16, especially with this club's tradition of being there. Look, I am not going to sit here and tell you that it wouldn't be a big disappointment not being there, because the reality is that it would be a huge disappointment. That is where our hearts are right now. We want to make it to the Top 16, we realize the importance of this game and I don't even want to sit here and imagine how it would be if we didn't make it to the next round. It is something that, as a player, motivates you. You learn from your previous experiences and fear the pain of losing a game like that. When you have experience, you know how it feels and it is one the things that drives you — not having that feeling."

If your team goes through, what can we expect from Unicaja and Nik Caner-Medley after the holiday break?

"One of the beautiful things about playing in Spain is that you have to be motivated for every game, in the Spanish League and in Europe. It gives you a lot to be motivated and focused about. We have the Copa del Rey soon after the holiday break, which we are hosting. It is going to be an exciting event for us. Obviously, we hope that we will playing in the Top 16. That is our mentality — there is nothing else to consider at this point for me but try to get better every day and win this week's game to go to the Top 16."