Unicaja managed to recover from their semifinal defeat and the “Duarte case” to secure a bronze medal that carried more emotional weight than just a third-place finish in the Basketball Champions League. Ibon Navarro’s side defeated La Laguna Tenerife 85-80. After the game, the Vitoria-born coach spoke to the media in the mixed zone.
**Assessing the Third-Place Finish**
“We really needed a game like this, especially with the added difficulties of losing Sule and Tyson. We’ve been fighting against a lot of things all season, but at least we managed to win this one. Hopefully, this gives us a little push for the rest of the season.”
**Difficulty Isolating from the Events in Badalona?**
“Isolating from what exactly? We were at the hotel, I don’t check social media, I don’t read newspapers, I don’t hear you, nothing. We had a lot of work preparing for the game, and a lot of work with the club managing what happened. We didn’t need to isolate ourselves from anything. We had enough work to focus solely on that.”
**The “Duarte Case”**
“The club has issued a statement. This has always been a disciplinary matter, not a technical one.”
**Could Another Player Arrive?**
“I’m sure the club is looking for something. Let me put it this way: everything came to a head on Friday because it was unsustainable. But I’m certain the club is working on it. The club is ambitious, they know we have a lot at stake. We have to fight until the end to make the playoffs. It will be very difficult, but they won’t leave us alone, I’m sure of that.”
**Contract Renewal Well Underway?**
“Talk to the club, talk to the club. I’m focused on this. I have too many problems to think about something that isn’t necessary because I have a contract for next year, as I’ve told you many times. Talk to the club, talk to my agent. I’m staying out of it. I have, as you know, more than enough work, seriously.”
**Did Unicaja Emerge Stronger from This Final Four Than When They Entered?**
“You only come out stronger from a Final Four if you win it. After that, the one who feels best is probably the third-place team, because the runner-up gets a blow. Our situation hasn’t changed sportswise, in terms of injuries or problems. In fact, I think it’s worsened because we lost Sule and Tyson. It’s gotten worse. So no, it hasn’t improved.
What is true, I insist, is that this time we beat a very good team. True, they didn’t have Marcelinho, but I don’t think anyone can say another team is missing someone when you look at what we’ve suffered this season. And we pulled out this win. We’re very happy. For sure, neither team wanted to play this game, but for us, it was important.”
**Injuries to Sulejmanovic and Tyson Pérez**
“I don’t know exactly about Sule. He has a small issue with his Achilles. He had a test yesterday, and the doctors thought it was better not to force it. As for Tyson Pérez, his calf tightened up, it got inflamed, and we don’t know yet. The players made a big effort to be here. I’ve always said that Tyson playing in this Final Four is a miracle. He wanted to, and you have to respect that. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious. But he couldn’t return to the game in the second quarter.”
**Positive Takeaways**
“The positives, beyond individual performances which were good… David was probably a bit less rushed than other days. I think the best thing was that we responded again to Tenerife’s many surges. We went through tough moments and came out of timeouts well, unlike other times. In the final minutes, we fell behind by 5 or 6 points. But we got back into the game and won it. I think those are the best news. Beyond that…”
