Rafa Monclova had only words of gratitude for his players after losing to Palencia in the third game and concluding his opponent’s superiority as they finished the season. “I want to congratulate Zunder Palencia, they are a great team and they have shown it throughout the season. “They’re going like a rocket, I have a good friendship with Pedro Rivero and I wish them the best.” In his speech after the match, the clear HLA coach said: “I don’t want to talk about the game, not about rebounds, not about percentages, or about fouls that could mark the game… I just want to say I’m proud of my players. It’s been a great season, especially the first episode, and unfortunately we had a lot of problems this month and they affected us a lot.
The coach continued to thank his team for their efforts: “I am proud to be able to experience the character experienced here, the demands of the people, how they helped us… We wanted to give that back with work. We gave it our all, it’s been a very demanding level throughout the year in the end. The guys agreed to that, and I can only be super proud of them. They worked like animals all year long. All year long they believed.”
“We got Palencia tight in the second game… And in the third game… We would like to win, pass the draw and make it to the final.. It’s our DNA and it’s what we’ve been trying from the first day I came here, and that’s how it was until the very last moment. I am very grateful to the children. It’s been a tough job,” Monclova concluded.
on his behalf Palencia’s coach Pedro Rivero underlined the equality in the last two games: “Other than the first day, it was a very tough draw. The first game is not correct, but the second game is solved with details, and this third game is solved with details.
The former Lucentino coach is already considering the decisive phase: «We have been with this since 20 August. It’s been a great season in every way. We deserve to be in Final 4. We have time both to think and to heal people coming from injuries. And for fun.”