Joan Plaza, the coach of Zenit Saint Petersburg (5-13 and last in EL as of now), spoke in the radio show “Tirando a Fallar” about his team situation in EuroLeague this season.
“Playing Euroleague was not in the plan. The GM’s developed a scenario of 3 / 4 years ahead but all of a sudden in half a year there was the option of this wildcard and the club said yes”
“We already had the team set and only one spot open, all the players were signed to try to play a great EuroCup and be near to the final or even play in it, and have a spot for next years Euroleague but they decided to grant the wildcard”
“There are plenty of examples in the last 4 years of teams that either by wildcard or by winning the EuroCup have had many problems in the Euroleague the coming year and also big problems in their domestic leagues. I‘ll point out these examples. Of all the 8 teams that went through this situation, only 2 managed to have a decent standing the season after: Valencia two years ago and the other one is Unicaja, three years ago when I was there”
“In Euroleague to compete you have to sign talent and experience. We signed experience and talent but of lower competitions”
“You cannot expect to have an immediate success and performance from one day to the other with 11 new signings and many injuries”
“We dont have to cry or complain, it’s just the reality and we have to try to fix it”
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