Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv is celebrating their huge victory over Alba Berlin and their qualifying for the Euroleague Top 8. Shimon Mizrahi: “Our club has proved again that when faced with a challenge, we know how to meet it head on.”
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By Amy Samin
Club president, Shimon Mizrahi spoke about the victory: “We came into this critical game knowing that it was up to us. We didn’t want to be dependent on the result of the game in Belgrade [between Red Star and Panathinaikos]; we wanted to do the work ourselves. The guys played with their hearts tonight. To win a game by nine points on the road in such a tough arena shows a lot of character.”
“The nerves were evident in the many free throws we missed, but our club has proved again that when faced with a challenge, we know how to meet it head on, and we know how to handle the moment of truth. I’m glad we have continued our tradition and are once again in the quarterfinals for the sixth year in a row. I want to congratulate the coaching staff and the players, and also our wonderful fans who came with us from Israel and the many who came from Germany and helped us reach this achievement.”
Head coach Guy Goodes said after the game, “This was a big win for us on the road in money time, which we attained through a tremendous team effort. Alba is a very physical and strong team that knows how to pressure and exhaust its opponent, and it’s very difficult to win here in Berlin. Alba deserves a lot of respect; they’ve done great things this year that no one had expected of them.”
“I’m happy we achieved another one of our goals, qualifying for the Euroleague quarterfinals. We did it in a single decisive game on the road, something that hasn’t happened for a long time. We won the Israeli Cup Final in Jerusalem, and now we’ve won a sort of cup final here in Berlin. Apparently we are fated to work very hard this year, but the main thing is that we won.”
“I’m happy for the players, they played great defense tonight, and also played well on offense, aside from our weak showing from the foul line which wasn’t fitting for this level of basketball. Huge thanks go out to our fans, who showed us a lot of support here tonight and provided a home-like atmosphere. We fought throughout the game, we stood up to tremendous pressure, and we were consistent with our level of aggressiveness.”
“Devin game us another stupendous game – he was focused and dominant, and he made the difference. But it’s important to say that everyone showed up for this game, and thanks to their impressive team effort we won the game.”
The star of the game, Devin Smith, shared his thoughts on the win: “Tonight was very important not only for the team but for the club. We knew we had to be aggressive on both ends of the floor. Everybody who stepped on the court gave their all in order to win the game, and that allowed us to win tonight.”
‘Tonight I just tried to come out and be aggressive and use my experience to push the team. I got going early and the team continued to find me for shots.”
Brian Randle, who put in another great performance against his former team, added, “We came here with one clear goal: to win, no matter what. The key was to match their aggressiveness and intensity, and we did that well, because we knew that things would work out. We don’t lack talent. Everyone did their job, without exception. Devin made the big shots, Alex rebounded, Nate had two big steals…you can say something about every player. It was a great win, but no one is celebrating. We are looking ahead to the games in Turkey.”
