– You have reached the Final Four of the Alpe Adria Cup. How was the journey between the top four and how do you evaluate the current edition of this competition?
“For us, the journey and our group were difficult. I don’t want to diminish the quality of other teams or groups, but Dabrowa Górnicza plays in a good Polish league, Velika Gorica plays well in the Croatian league and is in the top half of the table. Šenčur is also in a similar position, from that point of view it was a good decision to play this competition. I believe that the experience gained will be useful for us in the playoff matches.”
– With what expectations and goals are you going into the Final Four?
“The fact that we made it to the Final Four is already a great result for us. Anything extra we achieve there will be a bonus. First of all, we need to fully concentrate on our semi-final opponent from Pardubice.”
– Pardubice will be your semi-final opponent. What do you know about your opponent? How does he play, on what does he rely on in his tactics?
“Pardubice is a very strong team, they are fifth in the Czech league. Ahead of them are strong teams like Nymburk, Opava, Brno. They have a loaded squad.”
– You know your opponent from the Federal Cup. Could it be an advantage that you already have some knowledge about him?
“Compared to the Federal Cup, they have new players who haven’t played against us. The style of play develops during the season, so we have to look at their last games, how they have been playing in offence, defence, how they have been performing.”
– The Final Four is played in single game format, which is a change in comparison with past seasons. From your point of view, what makes this format special?
“The whole Final Four tournaments are about the team’s current form, how they prepare for one particular game. It’s possible that if the first step will be successful, the second step will be that much easier.”
– Final Four of Alpe Adria Cup will be held in front of TV cameras and there is also a prize money at stake. How do you see the progress of the competition that the management is trying to make?
“The question about progression is more on the board of the league and the other teams. For myself, I see it very positively. All the matches were played, nobody withdrew from the competition. This is good news for the new sponsors for the future, that the competition is going up and progressing. It will be important the continuation of teams from quality competitions, like from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia. They made the competition better, but we definitely need more quality and economically stronger teams, like some from Austria and Slovakia.”
