Alberto Blanko: "Neftchi" is the favorite to advance to the semifinals

The head coach of the "Ordu" basketball team, Alberto Blanko, gave an interview to the press service before the match against "Neftchi" in the playoffs of the Azerbaijan Basketball League. - How is the situation in the team before the 1/4 final game? - The team is looking forward to the match against "Neftchi". We are ready to fight and play in the best way. The players are focused and ready to fight as much as possible. - What do you think about the chances of defeating "Neftchi" in this series? - Of course, "Neftchi" is the favorite to advance to the semifinals. It is imperative for them to win this series. But we have a small chance to eliminate them from the competition. "Neftchi" is a strong opponent and is among the top three teams in the league. There is no pressure on us. It was the same when we played against "Quba", we had to win and we did. Now we are going out against "Neftchi" with the same mindset. - How did our team prepare for this game? - I am not a coach who makes excuses about injured players or referee mistakes. I play with the players I have. But it is clear that we lost our best scorer in the first game with Quba and he will not be able to help us in this series. The only player we brought to our team before the transfer market closed left the club after only 15 days and we could not replace him. This put us in a difficult situation. - What are your thoughts on "Neftchi"? - As I said, they are among the top 3 strongest teams in the league. They changed head coaches 3 times during the season. They signed 12 American players, and they also have the captain and playmaker of the Azerbaijan national team. This team has everything a coach could want to achieve results. I like their playing style. - What do you expect from tomorrow's game? - I hope we can compete and play good basketball. If we manage to stay in the game until the last five minutes, our chances increase. Playing without pressure can help us in this situation. The only thing I told my players is: put all your strength into it so that we have a chance to win until the end of the first game. Idman.biz