Fenerbahce forward David Andersen admits that his side are playing only for pride ahead of his return to the Palaestra tonight to face Montepaschi Siena.
The Turkish side are still not statistically eliminated from the Euroleague Top 16 but they currently lie in seventh spot with a 2-6 record and need to win every game from here to stand a chance of qualifying. Their record on the road doesn’t make for great reading though as they have lost the last seven games away from the Ulker Arena, something Andersen wants to end.
The Australian international says that his side will block out the changes and numerous news stories that have circulated over the last week and concentrate on winning.
“It will be an interesting game,” he said. “We are now playing for pride. We now want to play our best game. With what’s happening, new coach and everything is changing out here. So things are a little different.”
Andersen is one of three Fenerbahce players making his return to Tuscany tonight along with Bo McCalebb and Romain Sato. Coach Simone Pianigiani was another expected to make a comeback as well, but he left his post last week due to personal reasons.
In contrast, Montepaschi Siena are exceeding all expectations in this season’s Euroleague. With key personnel moving to the Asian side of Istanbul, the Italian champions were in rebuilding mode with a new team in place, the roles were expected to be reversed for the two teams, as Euroleague pre-season predictions go. But Siena have managed to maintain their consistent form over the years for this season.
Bobby Brown, who replaced McCalebb over the summer is one of the Euroleague’s brightest stars and has helped Siena to be the hottest offensive side this year, leading the Euroleague in scoring at 82.6 points a game. The last meeting between the two teams in Turkey saw Brown explode for 41 points as the Italians stunned the fanatical Fenerbahce crowd by coming away with a 98-92 win.
Andersen though, averaging eight points in the Top 16 and 6.6 points overall is looking forward to his return but stresses that his side need to come away with the win.
“It should be fun to play in my old stadium in Siena,” Andersen said. “It’s going to be a bit emotional. But hopefully we can come out and play some good basketball and get a good win on the road which is something we need to do to get back on track.”
Montepaschi Siena vs Fenerbahce is one of five Top 16 games being played tonight, along with three on Friday.
Thursday
Besiktas vs Olympiacos
Caja Laboral vs Maccabi Electra
Real Madrid vs Brose Baskets
Barcelona vs BC Khimki
Montepaschi Siena vs Fenerbahce
Friday
CSKA Moscow vs Alba Berlin
Unicaja Malaga vs Zalgiris
Panathinaikos vs Anadolu Efes
