Maccabi took another big step toward the Israeli Final Four Thursday night, defeating Ashkelon and putting the playoff series at 2 \u2013 1. \u201cWe\u2019re already thinking a little about the Final Four,\u201d said Lior Eliyahu<\/B>, Maccabi\u2019s top scorer in Thursday night\u2019s game. Maccabi head coach Pini Gershon<\/B> said, \u201cWe\u2019re not in the Final Four yet, and there are some folks here who aren\u2019t concentrating. When asked about Tal Burstein, who scored 11 points in Thursday\u2019s game, and about the Israeli players in general, Gershon replied, \u201cWith all of the preparation, there are players on this team who don\u2019t really understand what Maccabi is, and that\u2019s also the story of the playoff. <\/SPAN> Omri Casspi<\/SPAN><\/B> said, \u201cWe played good defense, and the bottom line is we stopped them right where we wanted to. \u201cWith 23 turnovers, we had no chance at all of beating Maccabi,\u201d complained Tre Kelley<\/SPAN><\/B>, who scored 12 for
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<\/SPAN>One more win will put Maccabi in the Final Four.
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<\/SPAN>We played strong and aggressive, and we really hope to seal the deal in
<\/SPAN>It\u2019s an equal rivalry, we\u2019re not underestimating them and we\u2019ll play with all our strength.\u201d<\/SPAN><\/P>
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<\/SPAN>Could be it\u2019s a good thing we\u2019re going into a fourth game, because that shortens the amount of time until the start of the Final Four.
<\/SPAN>Even
<\/SPAN>Anything can happen.\u201d
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<\/SPAN>Tal, who has won Israeli championships and Euroleague championships, gets it.
<\/SPAN>In Maccabi, if you\u2019re having a bad game there\u2019s someone who can step up and take your place.
<\/SPAN>Limonad has been playing well and now Tal\u2019s in great shape \u2013 that\u2019s the story.
<\/SPAN>A lot of Maccabi\u2019s players are on the national team, and the truth is I don\u2019t think they get enough respect.\u201d<\/SPAN><\/P>
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<\/SPAN>We\u2019ll keep playing at this level.
<\/SPAN>We want to win in
<\/SPAN>We\u2019ll continue to work to be in top form for the Final Four, but first of all we want to be focused on the game in
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<\/SPAN>\u201cWhen we won here, we had only 10 turnovers.
<\/SPAN>That, together with catastrophic percentages, didn\u2019t put us even close to being in a position to win the game.
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<\/SPAN><\/B>It\u2019s a series, and I think there\u2019s time to get fired up and not just dwell on the past.\u201d
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<\/SPAN>We didn\u2019t play well, and Maccabi played great basketball.
<\/SPAN>There\u2019s not a lot of time until Sunday\u2019s game, and we need first of all to play tough defense, get back to our own game, and get some momentum.
<\/SPAN>We need to put up some good scoring percentages early in the game.\u201d