“As a coach I cannot be frustrated”, said Coach Neven Spahija as he addressed the issue of injuries. “It’s a problem to play without two point guards, even three point guards but it is what it is. We try to set up on our system to play without them and to go forward and waiting for them to  be healthy, It is what it is we have to play against any opponent with this roster and we’re going to do it tomorrow. What you saw against Olympiacos and Be’er Sheva is our way to handle the situation. That’s the weakness in our system but at least let’s play defense on this level in Israeli championship we have to play good defense and get more situations on the open court”. 

“We all know the meaning of the game, it’s to win”, said DeAndre Kane. “It’s more than a basketball game, it’s for bragging rights for the fans, for our club it’s for the history so we just want to get the win”. 

When asked about playing without Scottie Wilbekin and Jeremy Pargo so early in the season Kane replied: “I feel like everybody on this team is important they’re just as important as everyone else so I think we can win any game without those two players of course we need them they are great in what they are doing for our team”.

“We all took part in the conversation about the derby especially the returners to tell the new guys what the derby is about and how much it means to the club, to the fans, to us and it’s getting everyone really excited about tomorrow”, said John DiBartolomeo. “Missing great players like that is tough for any team, it gives other people an opportunity to step up and we do it together and that’s how we’ll manage. Derby is always a lot of intensity, a lot of excitement, we’re looking forward to it, it’ll be a different kind of challenge for us and we need to come ready to play”.