Chus Mateo: "We had a heart when we should have had it"

   MADRID, 25 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The coach of Real Madrid, Chus Mateo, was "very happy" to win the Endesa Super Cup this Sunday, after having "heart at the moment" in which they should have had it and having shown "hunger", celebrating being a team that it is "very difficult" to stop.

"We are very happy, we had heart when we should have had it. We had poor percentages in the first half, without taking advantage of all the rebounds we were grabbing. We spent a long time without scoring. In the third quarter the talent appeared of some players, like Llull, who has already got us used to it, and we have hooked on the game, from the offensive options and from the defense, with Deck very well", Mateo analyzed at a press conference.

The Whites prevailed over Barça in the final of the tournament with a score of 89-83, after extra time in which the Madridistas continued to "fight". "When we're in the mode of being hungry and wanting to win the title it's hard to stop. Edy has also been immeasurable defensively," he noted.

"We have managed to change a bit the way they had to play, forcing them to lengthen their attacks, something that has favored us. The most important thing is who scores one more point at the end of the game", he added about the keys to the match, in the that his entire staff did an "extraordinary job".

Mateo urged to "continue to maintain the strengths" that in the past gave them titles, such as the "heart of the champion". "We have come back in a game that was complicated, we were not scoring easily. The defense has helped us, we have been able to recover some ball that has given us a career... There is possibility and time to work on things to improve", he expressed optimistically .

"The victory gives me the peace of mind that the Real Madrid coach can have, who knows the demands that are always demanded of him, that doing well one day is not enough. I am very happy, it gives me peace of mind so that tomorrow I can be Calm down", he confessed about the victory, which allowed him to win his first title as Madrid's first coach, after the stage of Pablo Laso.

Mateo also assessed the injury to Rudy Fernández's right hand, a physical problem that "has been dragging on for a while" and that this Sunday has suffered after falling on it. "We will see how it evolves, but every time it hits it suffers," he lamented, before reporting that Nigel Williams-Goss "is in the final phase of his recovery", although without competition rhythm because "he has not yet trained with the cluster".

"We still have to get used to a new regulation. It is obvious that we will take advantage of these situations, we have to be alive and adapt as soon as possible. Now it is not easy, we hope that it will be something positive for basketball, to give liveliness and lucidity to the game", he pointed out about quick serves with the new regulations.