Sherf: “We lost to a better team”

Maccabi came very close, but lost to CSKA Moscow in the Euroleague finals 91:77. The yellow squad of Zvika Sherf finished the first half with a minimum deficit, but a terrible offensive display in the third quarter decided the game. Maccabi tried to make a come back,
but it’s hard to re-create something as happened in the semi’s against Montepaschi for the second time in 48 hours.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s coach, Zvika Sherf, said at the buzzer: “I’m sad. We lost to a better team in the finals, nevertheless we’ve made a long and great way this season before we lost tonight to a team with unlimited tools. We tried our best but couldn’t get the win.

“We didn’t play a good third quarter. We found ourselves down by 8-10 points and couldn’t come back. Some players didn’t score the points we needed from them. Bynum did a very good job, but others didn’t score. CSKA has great players in all positions. The stopped David Bluthenthal and our big guys and we didn’t find solutions. Of course it’s disappointing to reach the finals and lose.

“After the semi-finals we played you want to win, but on the other side there was a team that every superlative won’t do right with them. They played to win. We want to thank the players for the great European season we made. We need to stay together and focus on the Israeli Final Four. CSKA is the best team it Europe. They didn’t win because they had more luck.”

Nikola Vujcic said: “I knew they will try to be physical with me under the basket. They were better today. I’m sad but also proud of my friends. A lot of things didn’t go in our way, especially in the second half. They hit some big shots and that made a difference. We tried and everybody gave the best they have. I don’t know if it’s my last Euroleague game with Maccabi. We’ll have to see about that. We lost to a great team.”

Sharp: “They played good tonight. We missed a lot of shots and they deserved to win. Of course we believed we could win this game. We had the faith, it just wasn’t our night. We’ll wake up tomorrow and fight again for another win.”

Co-Owner Ra’anan Katz was proud of his players: “The better team won and that’s CSKA. You need to play a great game to beat them and we didn’t play great.
We missed three shots close to the rim, Garcia missed an open lay-up, that’s six points that could have changed the game.”

Regarding the next season he said: “We always try to have the best possible team. I always look at San Antonio Spurs as a model because with a small budget they manage to build great teams because they pick players wisely. We’ll try to do the same.”

Team’s manager, Monny Fanan: “It’s a difficult feeling, but we need to compliment the guys, they tried to win in every second of the game. We didn’t play well in the second half and that’s a big shame. My heart goes out for the fans back home and all those who came here to Madrid. I made myself a target to bring the Euroleauge title home and I said that I failed. I tried in all my power, I wanted the cup with all my heart, but it was above my powers.”

David Bluthenthal said: “CSKA played a great second half. They scored from outside and I think we didn’t execute as we should have. They are a great team, they started the game well, they are experienced and that’s what they do. I feel bad for the fans that came all the way from Tel Aviv and saw us lose, but that’s what happened and we’ll have to move on.”


Terence Morris saw things differently: “We’ll never admit that they are better than us. They were better than us tonight. That’s all. We killed ourselves tonight, made too many mistakes and did more mistakes than we usually do. We didn’t want to finish our Euroleague season like that. They made a run in the third quarter and we missed some shots while allowing them some easy ones. We made too many turnovers in the second half, allowed them to have second chances and that’s what won the game for them.”


Lior Eliyahu believes the difference was in the outside shoots: “The shots from outside didn’t go in and I think we just played into their hands. We took the shots they wanted us to take, the put pressure on us and that was it. In the first half we were still in the game, but in the second they put more pressure and the long distance shots didn’t go in. We played smarter in the first half. In the finals there’s no space to fix your mistakes, and we’ll try to find the path to win the title next year. If our long distance shots would have fall in things would have been different but that allowed them to thicken their inside defense and that made it more difficult to score.”

Vonteego Cummings said: “Losing is always tough and difficult. We got to give them the credit and they deserved to win.”

Casspi tried to focus on the positive sides: “For some reason in the second half we didn’t play our basketball. We’ll have to learn and get stronger. We’re very proud of what we’ve done this season.”


Esteban Batista didn’t see the half full glass: “The second place isn’t enough for any of us. It’s no fun to lose in the finals. We knew CSKA is an excellent team. We lost some focus in the second half, and I think that everybody fought hard and did their job. We need to be happy that we finished second in the Euroleague despite all the problems we suffered during this tough season.”