Rosen Barchovski: I′m satisfied with my team′s performance, the BIBL is stronger every year

BC Rilski Sportist′s head coach Rosen Barchovski spoke to balkanleague.net about how the season turned out for his team. Rilski finished third in Group A (6-4) and after that played Hapoel Tel Aviv in the quarterfinal play-offs, but lost the series 2-0.   Q: How will you rate the performance of your team Rilski Sportist in this year′s edition of the EUROHOLD Balkan League?   Rosen Barchovski: First of all I would like to say that from year to year the competition gets stronger and stronger. Our team played in Group A, which in my opinion was tougher than the other one, because there were teams with equal potential such as OKK, Torus, Timisoara, as they didn′t manage to go through. The only team that could make the difference and did it was Galil Gilboa. I think that reaching the playoffs, coming out of this group and playing in the quarterfinal play-offs is a success for us. In general, Rilski Sportist performed good in the BIBL this season. I′m only sorry for the loss in Bar (89:76), as if we didn′t lose by more than 11 points things could′ve gone in a different direction. Overall, I′m satisfied with my team′s performance.
Q: What are your expectations for the upcoming Final 4 (April 21-23 in Gan Ner), is there a team amongst the finalists, which you can point out as a favorite?   R.B.: Galil Gilboa. They are one step ahead, not only because of the home court advantage. They are second in Israel, where the champioship is really really strong. I expect Galil to be in the final game, where they will play most probably Levski in my opinion.   Q: You played against Galil Gilboa and Hapoel Tel Aviv, both Israeli clubs in the BIBL this year, do you think that their participation makes the League stronger?   R.B.: Definitely, their participation definitely makes the League stronger. They have a lot of attractive players, mainly Americans, which improves the interest in the games, gives attraction. Plus, flying to Israel by plane isn′t a tougher travel than some of the trips in the Balkan area.   Q: The summer is closer and closer, what are your expectations for the Bulgaria National Team, from your head coach point of view. After all the group in the qualifications this year seems a bit еаsier, compared to previous campaigns?
R.B.: At first sight it looks like that, the the group isn′t that tough, but everything depends on us. We played like equal against some of the top teams in Europe, and not only that, we managed to win against some of the top teams in Europe. The players need to be motivated and ready to work hard.