Though unhappy at their failure to pull out a win against CSKA, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv is looking ahead, past Saturday’s game in Jerusalem and towards the playoffs. Blatt: “Up until now we’ve had an exceptional Euroleague season, and that gives us confidence going forward.”
By Amy Samin
Head coach of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, David Blatt, said following Thursday night’s game: “We’re disappointed. There were a lot of unnecessary and unforced turnovers, and it’s very disappointing. Throughout the season, with the exception of a single game in Moscow which we played with a reduced roster, we are the only team that never lost by more than 9 points. Up until now we’ve had an exceptional Euroleague season and that gives us confidence going forward.”
“We’ve had a difficult week, so I have no complaints for the guys,” Blatt continued. “To come in and play three excellent quarters against a great team means something. In the end, some fairly stupid turnovers are what made the difference, in both the first and the last quarters. Congratulations to CSKA and their coaching staff. Both teams played with a lot of class and good sportsmanship and gave the fans a terrific show.”
The outstanding player for Maccabi with 15 points and 7 assists was Tyrese Rice, who said, “We had too many turnovers in the last quarter and we gave up too many offensive rebounds. Those are the things we needed to avoid in order to win this game. We’re going to have to fix that before the series against Milan. CSKA is one of the best teams in Europe, but so are we.”
“First we need to focus on the game against Jerusalem,” Rice went on. “It’s the game for first place in the Israeli League, and that’s where we should be. We’re going there to win. The game we lost there last time is in the past but we will definitely be thinking about the game we lost to them at home, in Nokia. We’ve definitely got a tough road ahead.”
Sofoklis Schortsanitis added, “We don’t have the luxury of turning over so many balls, 18 is too many at this stage of the season and we need to play better. I’m excited about the series against Milan; this is a great time of the season. All of the hard work we’ve done all season leads up to those games.” When asked about the crowd at Nokia, Sofo replied, “I love my fans, they’re great. I thank them for their support, and I hope we’ll give them the chance to go to the Final Four.”
Team captain Guy Pnini said, “From Maccabi’s point of view, the season starts now. This is our moment to step up, both physically and mentally. We’re heading into the money time of the season and we need to be playing better basketball. At this level, you can’t turn the ball over 18 times and win the game.”
Forward David Blu, who scored 14 points, added, “Too many stupid turnovers cost us this game. If we had been protecting the ball, we would have put ourselves into position to win the game. There’s no such thing as a good loss, but we have a positive attitude going into the series against Milan, and we have confidence after this game with CSKA.”
Sylven Landesberg, who played a great game on his 24th birthday, said, “It’s depressing, the fact that we lost after being in the lead. We really wanted to win after that loss in Moscow. We’re confident in our abilities, everyone in the locker room believes in everyone else. Our coach believes in us. We can beat any team in Europe.”
