By Amy Samin<\/FONT> After three years, the Israel Cup is once again in the hands of Maccabi Tel Aviv. \u201cWe\u2019re happy to once again hold the Israel Cup,\u201d said Pini Gershon<\/B>. \u201cYou see the happiness here in the locker room and you understand that we don\u2019t take anything for granted,\u201d added the coach. Gershon also talked about some of the comments he made before the game. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that in one game anything can happen, and we weren\u2019t surprised at all that it was close,\u201d said assistant coach Sharon Drucker<\/B>. Drucker summed it all up in one sentence: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter what happened over the last 40 minutes, what counts is that the Cup is back where it belongs.\u201d<\/FONT> \u201cIt was a really tough game,\u201d said Maccabi veteran and team captain Derrick Sharp<\/B>, who once again received the Israel Cup from the hands of the president, this time Shimon Peres. Guy Pnini<\/B> talked about the abilities of the veteran guard: \u201cI have no explanation for this entity called Sharp. Alan Anderson<\/B>: \u201cIt\u2019s fun to bring the Cup back to Maccabi. Yaniv Green<\/B>: \u201cIt\u2019s about time we won the Cup. On the other side, Bnei Hasharon garnered many compliments on their fine performance but remained disappointed that they couldn\u2019t do more at the end of the close game. Shamir added: \u201cWhat were we missing at the end? When asked about the young Dori Assaf\u2019s absence from the game, Shamir said, \u201cIt was my decision not to let him play, he didn\u2019t do anything wrong.
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Last season Pini Gershon led Maccabi to the championship, and now he has added another trophy to the already crowded cabinet.<\/FONT>
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\u201cFor most of the game we were better than Bnei Hasharon.
We guarded well, and kept them to 32% from the field which is hard to do.
If we had played better on offense we would have won the game sooner, but they say that harder is sweeter.
I hope for the fans and the assistant coaches there will be many more cups.
I told the players to do everything they could to send Derrick Sharp to the president again.\u201d<\/FONT>
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\u201cRecently we\u2019ve made a lot of changes, professionally.
Some of them are not yet evident, but maybe in another two or three weeks they\u2019ll be noticeable.\u201d<\/FONT>
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\u201cI don\u2019t think about being the favorite in a game and talking like a favorite.
I\u2019m pretty sure you don\u2019t expect the coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv to come out before a game, in which we\u2019re the favorites and the better team, and say something different.
Some of the things I said were like marketing.
I don\u2019t think that to say we\u2019re the better team and deserve to win the Cup is bragging.
I\u2019m not that boastful.
We always have something to lose.
It\u2019s a lot harder than to go into the game as the underdog.
I have no intention of lying, being stupid or looking foolish.
Everything I said before the game was proven during the game.\u201d<\/FONT>
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\u201cThey came with tactics that were good for them in a game like this, with four guards, but in the end we recovered and won.\u201d<\/FONT>
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\u201cPeople don\u2019t understand how hard it was. We\u2019re proud to return the Cup to Maccabi.\u201d<\/FONT>
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If only he could stay another 10 years.
I think he has a contract for next season.
It was my dream to come to Maccabi and of course to win a title with them.
It\u2019s sweet, it\u2019s fun.
Look how happy everyone is.\u201d<\/FONT>
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It\u2019s a great feeling.
It wasn\u2019t an easy game; we worked hard.
We had some turnovers, and we didn\u2019t get some calls, but we were able to finish the game with a win.\u201d<\/FONT>
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It was very important to bring the Cup home, and from now on it will stay here for many years.\u201d
About the game, the center said, \u201cBnei Hasharon played well.
Our fans really gave us a push at the end and made all the difference.\u201d<\/FONT>
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\u201cCongratulations to Maccabi on the win.
Overall, they dominated for most of the game,\u201d said Dan Shamir<\/B>, head coach of Bnei Hasharon.
\u201cWe were able to come back from the big deficit we were in during the first half, and I\u2019m proud that it was a close game.\u201d<\/FONT>
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A couple of good decisions, I can\u2019t think of one at the moment.
Overall it was a good game with good basketball, and congratulations to Maccabi on the title.
Again today we showed who we are, a team of 70 points, a good defensive team that comes to every game, no matter who it\u2019s against.
We hope to win close games like this one in the league in the future.\u201d<\/FONT>
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I don\u2019t intend to involve anyone else in my decisions.\u201d<\/FONT>
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