Ben Kovac and his team Patrioti Levice will play the league finals in Slovakia in the upcoming days. In fact, Patrioti entered the play-offs as the number 3 seed and their opponent Komarno was the number 4 seed so that Levice will have home court advantage in the best-of-7 series.
What does it mean for the club and for you to play in the league finals?
It is the first time in my professional career that I am playing in the league finals. I once returned to Basket Esch from Den Helder to play the finals in Luxembourg but it was not the same experience because I was not part of the team during the season. We worked all season to be in this position and now I am really excited for this showdown. Additionally, it is a derby for us because Komarno is the closest team to Levice in the league. After playing in the cup final earlier this season, it will be another big step to compete in the finals. It is the third straight finals appearence for our club. If we can win the league title, it would definitely be the best season in the history of the club because we also played very succesful in the EuropeCup competition earlier this season. It is not only the goal but also the ambition of the whole team staff and the club to finish this strong season with the championship title.
How do you evaluate your chances of winning the series?
We earn home court advantage which gives us the position of the favorite before the start of the series. However, the season series against the opponent was balanced (2 wins, 2 losses) and Komarno is known for its aggressive playing style. I expect a very difficult series that could be as long as 7 games, it will definitely be a great challenge for our team and we need to be ready for some real play-off basketball. In a best-of-7 series, there are no excuses, the better team is going to win in the end. Every game starts at 0:0, we are very confident in the abilities of our team to win this series.
What do you expect from yourself in the finals?
I expect from myself to continue to play my role which is to bring energy to the court off the bench. Furthermore, I want to put pressure on the other team on the defensive end. I will give my best every second that I am on the court and I will also try to enjoy this experience. The big goal is to win this title as a team, my personal role is not my biggest focus at the moment.
Game 1: May 6th (19:00)
Game 2: May 10th (17:30)
Game 3: May 13th (18:00)
Game 4: May 17th (18:00)
