Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos addressed the media towards the matchup against CSKA Moscow (“They’re always a big candidate for the final four”), and dealing against COVID-19: “Our concern is to stay healthy”
After not traveling outside of Israel for the past half-year, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv departed to Moscow to face the still reigning EuroLeague champions CSKA Moscow for one of the most challenging games of the season. The Corona pandemic continues to hit across the world as 3 of Dimitris Itoudis’s players tested positive, which makes this trip unusual. Still, it needs to be recognized that this season will be different than any before.
“This will be our first European road game since March, and we’re very excited”, Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos before the final practice in Tel Aviv. “It won’t be an easy trip, it will be different than any before. On one side, we are happy to fly and play, but on the other end, we need to be very cautious with the risks and dangers surrounding COVID-19. I want to thank the owners for the charter flight, this is very important for the safety of our team and our continuation going forward in the EuroLeague”.
“Like every season, CSKA is a big candidate for the final four, and they’ve made good transfers”, Told Sfairopoulos, who served as the reds assistant coach in the 2011/12 season. “We know they have three unavailable players who won’t play due to the virus, but they are still a dangerous team, and they have a good roster with excellent players. We had time to prepare not only for this game but in general. We need to be focused, play our game, and fight for our chances”.
“Our concern is to stay healthy, we know that CSKA and all EuroLeague teams will do their best for the safety of the opponents as we do here to guaranty the health of our opponents”, The greek coach stated. “Playing around the pandemic is going to play a role this season, and we must stay cautious and understand there is a possibility of getting affected. But at the end of the day, when you go out to play, we only think about the game”.
“We talk to the players what they need to do on the basketball side, but we need to remember they are humans”, Answered Sfairopoulos about the concern of his players playing aggressively against opponents dealing with the pandemic. “If they don’t feel very comfortable playing in a country that lately has a lot of Corona cases, what can we tell them? not to think about their safety? These are going to be parts of the difficulties this season. That’s why I told all of you that this is going to be a very unpredictable season”.
