By Amy Samin
Playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv is a big commitment.
A lot of people, maybe even a whole country, expect you to produce good results in every game, and that leads to tension and internal pressure for every good player.
We’ve waited a long time for the first game of the season against Cibona Zagreb; the preseason games just aren’t the same as the real thing.
We’re excited and ready.
We have even more reason to want to win this year, because last year we lost the Israeli Championship.
That was something that should never have happened.
Things went wrong for us when we got to the Euroleague final last year against CSKA Moscow, but here at home we have more talent than the other teams and if we play tough, fight, and work hard then the championship won’t be a problem.
In the Euroleague it’s still difficult to say how the season will start off.
If we work hard, and if Yad Eliyahu (Nokia Arena) will bring us the peace and confidence it does by intimidating our opponents, we’ll be on our way to a good season.
We’re just getting started.
We have a talented team, with players who like to play hard for the team, and everyone will see that once the season gets underway.
The players will show more commitment, fight, and determination for the team.
We won’t be the most successful team in the Euroleague without those things.
We’re on the right path, and Efy (head coach Efy Birenboim) urges us to fight hard.
You have to remember, we haven’t had a lot of time to prepare, which is a problem for a team that has been rebuilt.
The whole team has practiced together for maybe two weeks total so far, and while we’ve played a fair number of games, we’re still at the beginning – we’re still a team that doesn’t yet know how everything fits together.
The more we come together, the better we’ll look.
Marcus Brown is going to contribute a lot to the team.
Even though we haven’t gotten to know him well yet, since he arrived in
He is a professional with a lot to contribute.
I hope the crowd will support us at every home game; we promise to do everything we can.
We need a lot of support, because we are a new team.
I hope the crowd will enjoy the games, and that we will all have a good, and yellow, season.