Pini Gershon wasn’t exactly thrilled by Thursday’s 85 – 65 victory over Union Olimpija. “As a starting point, it was okay. It was a really slow game.” Anderson: “We (the new players) heard about the crowd at Nokia and I think we were prepared.”
By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv can be proud of their Thursday night 85 – 65 victory over Union Olimpija in the first week of the 2009-2010 Euroleague season on their home court at Nokia Arena.
“We got through it,” said Maccabi head coach Pini Gershon after the game.
“Games like that can go either way.
There were some good things on defense.
The two point guards and Anderson did excellent work.
As a starting point, it was okay.
It was a really slow game.”
Looking ahead, Gershon said, “We’re going to do things better.
There’re a lot of things we’re still doing too slowly, but we’re still not fully trained.”
About Alan Anderson, who was MVP with 25 points, Gershon said, “He’s a scorer, and he knows how to do things the best possible way.
There aren’t many players who can stop him, maybe at the highest levels…
We need to keep things stable.
Someone told me that he plays a great first game, and then he kind of disappears.
I really hope that doesn’t happen.”
When asked about Andrew Wisniewski, Gershon added, “I always tell him to shoot…I guess someone translated everything that’s been written about him, and he started executing.
The question is whether he can do it every game.
He and Perkins together are just about perfect.”
Regarding the lack of playing time on Thursday for the Israeli players, Gershon stated, “They will play more.”
Alan Anderson, the number one man in the easy victory over Olimpija said, “I feel good.
I needed a real game after all the practice and preparation we had.
We waited more than a month and a half for the start of the season, with lots of internal practices and practice games against other teams, and we finally got a chance to show the fans what we can do.
That’s the real thing.
I really liked our defense, we played really intensely.
Also on offense we showed a few good things.”
Andrew Wisniewski, who scored 19 points, said, “I felt good on offense tonight.
Every game is different.
Some games I contribute more on defense, other games on offense.
The key for us in this game was our defense.
We had a lot of steals and we forced a lot of turnovers.
We made them use all the time on the shot clock every possession, and they felt the pressure.”
About the infamous Nokia crowd, Wisniewski said, “There was a great atmosphere in the arena.
The crowd was super and really pushed us on.”
Maccabi center D’or Fischer, who had 7 points, 7 rebounds and at least 5 blocked shots said, “It was great to come back to Nokia and see the big crowd.
I think we had a great game, and we showed the fans in Tel Aviv what they can expect this season.”
About his own personal ability, Fischer said, “I think I had a great game and I’m very satisfied.
I could see in the eyes of my friends on the team how they reacted to being in Nokia with a full crowd for the first time.
They were very excited about the big show that the crowd of 11,000 fans puts on.
The thrill will wear off a little as time goes on, but tonight is a night they will never forget.
I’m sure there’re things we need to improve.
It’s just the start of the season, and we’ll work on them.
Tonight, the most important thing is that we won.”
Maciej Lampe said, “I was a little nervous at the beginning; it’s my first time playing in front of such a large audience.
Also, with all the practice games we never met our fans, so I think for me and some of the other players it was hard to get used to it, but it’s fun and from the minute we settled down we played great defense and good offense…
I don’t think the games in the U.S. will stop our progress.
It’s an opportunity for us to play at that level.
I think it will help us get in better shape, and help us pull together more as a team.”
“I want to praise Maccabi and Pini: they deserve this win,” said Union Olimpija head coach Jure Zdovc.
“We made too many mistakes.
We knew if we could control the ball we’d have a chance, but we turned the ball over 20 times, which is way too much.
Offensively, we were too selfish; we didn’t look for the additional pass.
Maccabi is a very special team on offense.”
