Branko Cvetkovic, Akasvayu Girona
 For the third year in a row, Branko Cvetkovic of Akasvayu Girona enters the ULEB Cup elimination rounds with a talented team full of confidence and ready to make some noise. A born scorer, Cvetkovic has the ability and the smarts needed to take over a game, and with its top scorer having recently departed Akasvayu, will surely be called on to help fill the basket more. Regardless, his experience at this level is a bonus for a team in its first season in the ULEB Cup.
"First of all, Akasvayu Girona won its regular season group. We have played well so far, and that allows us to have a better schedule from now on, playing the second leg against Chalon at home. I expect Akasvayu to make it to the Final Eight in Torino and do something bigger. Until now, everything is okay, but I can do better. Akasvayu has a much stronger team than FMP, my ULEB Cup team last season, so I expect my new team to do well, too."
"In my first ULEB Cup season with FMP, we played the first leg on the road and lost by 5 points, but we were able to rally from that deficit at home. Last year, we knew how it went, so we played the fist leg on the road very well. It is important to be focused and play well in the first leg and not to try to win by 20 points in France. We will have a good opportunity to beat Chalon here in Girona. I believe we are a more talented team and that we will advance to the next round."
"From my ULEB Cup experience, I know you need to be very focused, especially in defense. Personally, I needed a little adaptation time, maybe one or two months, but now everything is OK, I feel like I played here for a long time. My ULEB Cup season has not been bad so far, nothing special, but the most important games are coming now. Everyone will show their real strength. The ULEB Cup is much stronger than the FIBA EuroCup, even when it was a great success for Akasvayu to win that competition last season. All the best teams in Europe are in the Euroleague or in the ULEB Cup. Akasvayu knows what it takes to win a European title and has the confidence that trophy brings. Everybody will give their best to win again."
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Rowan Barrett, Elan Chalon
 Among the only Canadians to play at such a high level in Europe, swingman Rowan Barrett of Elan Chalon was also one of the most versatile players in the ULEB Cup regular season. Few if any others could boast his averages of 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He was also ranked ninth in free throw accuracy. Barrett's versatility and clutch shooting should be kept in mind as Chalon tries to surprise Akasvayu Girona of Spain in the Last 32. "Our ULEB Cup season has been a little bit up and down. We have some injuries and we tried to compensate. Sometimes I have even played at the power forward position and things like this, but our team as a good spirit, is a proud one and I am happy that we are one of the two French teams to qualify. I think that there are good teams in the ULEB Cup. Some of the lower-budget teams can beat the big ones. There is good competitiveness, too."
"I haven't really got to see Akasvayu Girona yet, but I played in Spain before. It is difficult to know what to expect, but generally Spanish teams tend to play up-tempo game, taking a lot of three-point shots and I know Girona has good big guys, so we will have to guard the basket. I remember Jarod Stevenson, I played against him in Israel and he was a good player. For us, and without having seen Girona, I think that we have to go to good work to prevent them to get the ball inside, locate their shooters and play strong defense."
"Personally, like I said, it has been an interesting season for me. Even at this age I still have been able to grow as a player, and that's interesting for me, it helps me to keep the passion. As for the rest of the ULEB Cup, I expected a high level of basketball. Obviously, everybody out there gets paid well to do what they do. There are going to be some good duels at every position in the series against Girona. I think that the elimination rounds are going to be a great basketball spectacle. I am excited to play at a high level of a prestigious competition. It is not the Euroleague, not the NBA, but there are some very good basketball teams out there." |