The Yellow & Blue summarized the first round with a defeat. Sfairopoulos: “Our energy was not enough”. Dorsey: “We have to have a quick mindset of forgetting and continuing from here”
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv completed half of its regular-season games in the EuroLeague with a home loss to Zenit St. Petersburg, 72:78. With the defeat, the Yellow & Blue positive momentum took a hit on Tuesday, closing the first round with a 7:10 record. The Russian squad continues their surprising season, gaining their 7th road win of the season, improving their record to 10:5.
Maccabi opened the game well and held the lead after the first quarter. But the momentum shifted in the second quarter, after Othello Hunter, who was questionable coming into the contest because of back spasms, got hurt in the eye and was ruled out for the rest of the game. From that point on, the Russians took control, especially in the paint, and the hosts couldn’t find answers.
Scottie Wilbekin led the Yellow & Blue scorers with 18 points, Tyler Dorsey contributed 13 points, as Ante Zizic and Elijah Bryant each added 10 points. Maccabi continues from here as they’ll host Hapoel Jerusalem on Thursday evening for the final game of 2020.
“Our energy was not enough, especially at the start of the second half even though we talked in halftime about the need to raise our intensity to be faster in every reaction”, Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos after the loss. “Zenit started the second half really well and kept us low on the defensive end. In the final quarter, we came back, the players gave their maximum, and they gave their heart, but it was too difficult to return although we had a couple of chances to tie the game”.
Tyler Dorsey explained what was missing tonight: “We just couldn’t figure it out tonight, and they were getting too many points in the paint. Some nights are like that. We got many games coming up, especially on this stretch, we got to forget it, continue and get back to what we were doing in the last three games. Our energy was kind of low, we have to have a quick mindset of forgetting and continuing from here”.
“Basketball is a game of runs, you try to limit the bad ones and capitalize on the good runs”, Added the Yellow & Blue captain John DiBartolomeo. “We hit a bad spot in the second and at the start of the third quarter, and these are the times you really miss your home fans to help dig you out of those holes. But it’s something everyone is dealing with, and we need to respond better”.
The identity of our team is focusing on defense, any good team has to play well defensively because you’re going to miss shots”, Told Elijah Bryant about the keys going forward. “When we have those nights, we can focus on defense, which will allow us to get where we need to be at the end of the season”.
