Charles Gaines, Galatasaray Cafe Crown
 Galatasaray Cafe Crown forward Charles Gaines is one of those players who never goes unnoticed on a basketball court. Whether he's running and dunking or ripping rebounds, Gaines is an earth-shaker for his team, and his late-game rebounding in the first elimination round helped Galatasaray advance by a single point. Now, his experience will help, too, as Galatasaray faces Kalise Gran Canaria one year after Gaines played the same opponent in the Spanish League playoffs - and won. "Gran Canaria has a reputation for playing tough at home, but we really can't look at the second game. Our goal is to try to win the first game first, and then to win it by as many points as possible. We know it's going to be tough at their place later, but the first game is what's important. We've got to win that first. You gotta take one step at a time."
"I know that Gran Canaria is a team that plays hard all the time. Last year with Joventut, I played against them in the first round of the Spanish League playoffs and they took us to Game 5 before we could win. They are going to be very tough every night you play them, so we can take nothing for granted. I think they start with an advatage of experience, too. They have been together a long time and know each other's moves so well. They've been in a lot of battles together, so they know what to expect, too."
"As for their big men, I think that Kornel David is more of an inside-outside guy who prefers to take a jump shot if he gets that chance. He's got all sorts of experience. Sitapha Savane is more of a banger and a jumper who can score all around the basket. They complement each other a lot by doing what the other doesn't. And they are tough."
"We had a tough series against Asvel. You could tell as much from how the numbers went: first game tied and the second we won by just one point. That was a very good Asvel team. They made it clear that we had a bad draw for the first round. But I think that series helped us a lot. Just the fact that we played two games down to the wire and had to take them both without losing - having to win two games by one point, and doing it - will help us. That's experience for when we get in those situations again. Galatasaray hasn't been at this level in Europe for about 10 years, and hadn't won a round in that long until we beat Asvel, so yeah, everyone was pumped up. But there's no relaxing now. This is the biggest moment of the season, the playoffs. We're still on a mission, and that mission is to be in the Final Eight." |
Mario Fernandez, Kalise Gran Canaria
 Among the most promising young point guards in Europe, Mario Fernandez of Kalise Gran Canaria, who went from virtual unknown to a last cut for the Spanish national team last season. An old-school playmaker who thinks team first, Fernandez has helped Gran Canaria this far in the ULEB Cup and now aims to make one more step past Galatasaray Cafe Crown and into the Final Eight. His ability to ignite his team off the bench will be among the keys of the series for the islanders. "We overcame the first elimination round and the fact that we can make it to the Final Eight is very attractive at many levels. Not only is exciting for the club and its players, but also because of our fans and for sponsors, too, as they can see their names at a continental level in an event like the Final Eight. The ULEB Cup has become more and more important."  "Galatasaray has players that we know already, as some of them were in the Spanish League before. They know the kind of game we play and once we are deep into this season, everyone knows everything about us. We cannot fool ourselves, we know Galatasaray can be a dynamic but also a very physical team, with a lot of contact on defense, which is something we are not used to. We know what we have to do to beat a Turkish team, as we did with a Bosnian team like KK Bosna in the Last 32 round. We knew we would have physical games against those games. On the other hand, we know how to play in small, noisy arenas because this is how we play at home. Just like at home, we expect sellout crowds with noisy fans cheering for their team. We would be lying if we didn't say that we must go there and get the best result possible: winning the game or at the very worse, losing by as few points as possible." "Playing the second game at home is very important. Our arena is small and not very high, allowing our fans to put a lot of pressure on our opponents. It is tough for everybody, we know this and must thank our fans because this is one of Gran Canaria's best-kept secrets. Everyone could see the fan support we had against Bosna: not only did we advanced, but we were already up by 20 points at halftime. Sometimes our fans guide us where we want to go. We play the games, but they are always there to support us, no matter if we win or lose or if we play good or bad. That's something that, as a club, we always take into account." "Playing that Final Eight would be great because I am almost a rookie in European competitions, as I have only played the ULEB Cup for a year and a half. The new Final Eight format is very attractive for fans. I already played a Spanish King's Cup final eight, but this would be like taking that event to the European level."
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