David Blatt: We wanted to stay focused

David Blatt

13-01-2009 21:16

Dynamo Moscow head coach David Blatt:

"Obviously we played very well tonight. It's very important that good teams never let games go by and make them less important. We wanted to stay focused and tried to play on a high level because what you do today impacts on what will happen tomorrow. I heavily respect the Lukoil team. This year I saw them play games in the group that were really outstanding. For example Kazan could have easily lost both games against Lukoil. You probably heard what happened to us last night, coming late and not being able to practice this morning. You know, sometimes those things can actually help you to stay focused. We started a little slowly, perhaps because we didn't practice, but then our energy level increased and we managed to play aggressive defense against a very powerful offensive team."

Asked about Piny Gershon and his feats with the Bulgarian national team, Blatt said:
"I am a big fan of Piny Gershon, he is one of the great coaches in the history of European basketball. The Bulgrarian Federation deserves great credit for bringing him to coach their national team. And I think the accomplishment of qualifying last year out of the group that the Bulgarian team was in is one of the greatest stories of recent history in terms of qualifying rounds. You don't need me to tell everybody how great a coach Piny is, but I'll tell you again anyway - he is a great coach, he deserves a lot of credit and I'm very happy for him as a friend and as a colleague."