Rob Paternostro said his Leicester Riders players "really stepped up" as they booked their place in the BBL Cup final.
Riders made history on Saturday night after becoming just the fourth team in history to make five BBL finals in succession, after overwhelming Plymouth Raiders 104-77.
Riders' winning margin over the two legs of the semi-finals was an emphatic 33 points, and they will now play either Newcastle Eagles or Sheffield Sharks in the final at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Sunday, January 12.
Head coach Paternostro was impressed with the efforts of his team against the Raiders to seal their place at the NIA, which was the scene of the first of Riders' three trophies last season.
"We knew we had to make adjustments after the narrow win in the first leg, and the guys really stepped up," he said.
"We had some fantastic individual performances from Drew Sullivan, Jamell Anderson, and Anthony Downing. And we had six guys in double-figure points.
"But the contribution of Jay Couisnard was just immense. At times, he is impossible for opponents to contain.
"Jay really seems to like these cup games. He is not one to shy away from the big occasions.
"We saw that in the Cup final last January. We saw it again against Plymouth on Saturday with his 32 points.
"I think once again Riders showed they have the ability to rise to the biggest challenges. It was really a tremendous performance.
"The atmosphere at the John Sandford was also special, you could feel an edge, an electricity, and once we started to really get on top, it was always going to be tough for the Raiders to come back."
Newcastle and Sheffield meet in the second leg of their semi-final on Friday, with the Sharks holding a three-point advantage.
Elsewhere in the BBL, Sheffield went top of the Championship table and made it a miserable weekend for the Raiders with an 86-78 in Plymouth.
The hosts dominated the first half, leading 46-38, before Demetrius Jemison led the Sharks' second-half comeback with 31 points and 13 rebounds.
Newcastle went into a tie for second place with Worcester after a pair of wins at the weekend.
They made light work of Surrey at home on Friday, before putting in a polished performance to beat Durham 90-75 on Sunday, sparked by 21 points and 17 rebounds from Scott Martin.
London Lions moved into sole possession of fourth place with an easy home win against Birmingham.
Cheshire added to Surrey's winless run, while Manchester continued their recent improvement with a solid home win against a disappointing Glasgow.
Results: Newcastle 104 Surrey 73; Leicester 104 Plymouth 77 (Cup semi; second leg); Cheshire 96 Surrey 63; Manchester 98 Glasgow 87; Plymouth 78 Sheffield 86; Durham 75 Newcastle 90; London 101 Birmingham 72.
