“We deserved to win this match. Telekom is a very experienced team. They had defeated us in the in the first half of the regular season. In the second half of the season, we had a clear victory. I suppose my lads may have felt pressure due to this. Play-off matches are completely different from regular season matches. As to the match itself... We had a bad start. Telekom got easy field goals in the first half. We performed badly on defense, without committing any fouls. Our opponent scored 18 points from one-on-one chances. In the second half, my team woke up. We recovered, and played much better. We had better control of the game, and were better concentrated in the second half. Starting from tomorrow, we will be preparing for the second match of the series to be played in Ankara. I would also like to congratulate Telekom for their hard work...”

Efes’s Birkan Batuk also stated his thoughts at the press conference: “We had obtained a clear victory over Telekom in the last week of the regular season. However, play-off matches are always different. We knew it would not be an easy match today. We couldn’t start the game well. We were superior from time to time. Our turnovers in the final minutes of the second quarter caused the margin to go down. Today, we capitalized on our advantage of being the home team, and won the match. I hope we will also win the match in Ankara, put an end to the series, and start waiting for our opponent in the semi finals...”