Valencia Basket- La Laguna Tenerife post-game quotes: Pedro Martínez

"I think this is a good moment to do it, with the entire coaching staff present at the press conference. First, because internally, the players and people who see us day by day know perfectly the work and the merit, and this is something we do together. I don't want it to be capitalized on and for any of you to say 'Valencia of Pedro Martínez,' the league leader. It’s not the Valencia of Pedro Martínez. We are many people, not just players and coaches. It’s a lot more people working in the same direction. I want to share this moment with my assistant coaches because I know, and they do too, because I tell them how important they are to me and the team. And if you ask any player, they will all say the same because they know perfectly the day-to-day work.

I don't place much value on being first after Game 10. The standings should be looked at after Game 17 and especially after Game 34. Right now, I think it’s anecdotal. But yes, it is true that after Game 10 we can say we’ve had a good start to the season. We should not value the standings because we haven’t played against all the teams yet, so it’s not very reliable, and I don’t give it much value. However, I do give value to how the team plays, the effort with which they play, the mentality they have to overcome adversity. For example, today in the first quarter, we were down by 10 points, so seeing that the players have the mentality to endure, to push themselves as they do day to day, and then in the games, for me, that is worth much more than winning games or having a good position at a certain moment in the standings.

I think that in the end, games have difficulties, many of which are related to the opponent. Sometimes you’re down by 10 and think you’ve played very poorly, and other times you’re down by 10 and see what adjustments can be made. It’s great to see what they’re doing well, how well they’re defending the three-point line, how well they’re rebounding. The team that defends the three-point line best in the league and the team that rebounds best defensively in the league, so our theoretical strengths are a bit less effective today. What’s important when that happens, when you’re playing against good teams, is to recover from the things that don’t go as well as you might have expected and persevere. In that sense, I think the team has persevered. There have been important players for us who didn’t have their best day, and we weren’t able to get others to step up. But that’s the good thing – when you win the game no matter what, and with any player willing to step up."