Efy Birenboim: “Our victory was never in doubt.”

By Amy Samin

Last night, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv served up the first Euroleague victory of the season, defeating Avellino 90 – 83 in front of a raucous home crowd at Nokia Arena. Maccabi’s game flowed smoothly, with the team reaching a record lead of 27 points during the third quarter. The fourth quarter, though, saw a loosening in Maccabi’s game, and the visiting Italians were able to shrink that lead considerably before time ran out.

After the game, Maccabi head coach Efy Birenboim said, “The game ended with a seven point difference; in the fourth quarter they came back strong and broke up our rhythm. They were under a lot of pressure and kept scoring three-pointers. Our victory was never in doubt. We had a lot of great moments, and when we broke free from the pressure our running game was exceptional.”

“I’m very pleased with (Marcus) Brown’s integration into the team,” the coach added. “Though I’m sure he wasn’t satisfied with his game tonight, you could see his excellence in his time on the court. Part of my job is to remind the players of their less successful moments.”

The game’s MVP, Carlos Arroyo (20 points, 8 assists) added, “I think we relaxed too much once we had the big lead. We should have stayed focused. It happens in basketball, but the important thing is that we won.”

Lior Eliyahu commented, “At the end we changed gears, and that should never have happened.
In the fourth quarter they came back, and we should have kept the pressure up. The coordination between myself and Carlos is excellent; he is a player who has proven himself.”

Tal Burstein concluded, “We felt good, we went into the game strong, and we succeeded with the things we’ve been working on. There were some good minutes in the third quarter; maybe because of our big lead we weren’t focused later on. Arroyo and Brown drew the attention of the defending team, and that gave me an opening to score.”

Zare Markovski, head coach for Air Avellino, said, “Maccabi played well on defense, especially at the beginning of the second half, and that’s how they built their victory. Unfortunately, the two quarters in which we played well were not enough. I’m satisfied that our team did the best it could. We played well in the closing minutes, though not with the same intensity Maccabi showed for most of the game.”

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