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\u201cThe game was already over after two and a half quarters; after that we focused on giving our central players some rest,\u201d said head coach David Blatt<\/B> after the game. \u201cWe had a few mediocre minutes, but by then the game was over, and you can\u2019t ask for too much. Our guys are still hungry, and there\u2019s nothing like a hungry animal.\u201d<\/FONT> When asked about the things Rishon Lezion were saying before the game, Blatt replied, \u201cI decided to take the high road and ignore it. We don\u2019t care about doing the talking; we care about playing the game. Rishon is a good team; they eliminated Bnei Hasharon to get here, and I congratulate them on that.\u201d When asked which opponent he prefers for the final, the coach responded, \u201cI don\u2019t know who will win the second semi-final game. It\u2019s going to be a good game between two teams with a similar playing style.\u201d<\/FONT><\/P> Jeremy Pargo<\/B>, who led all scorers for Maccabi, said, \u201cWe had a lot of energy.\u201d When asked who he\u2019d like to face on Thursday in the final, Pargo said, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter. We\u2019ve seen both teams, and both teams have seen us. We have to come out and win and play hard no matter who we play against. They both have a lot of players that can do a lot of different things and nothing\u2019s going to be easy, so we have to come out and play hard.\u201d<\/FONT> Lior Eliyahu<\/B>, who last year won the Spanish championship,<\/B> added, \u201cWe started the game well, just like we wanted. That\u2019s also where we ended it; we knew they wouldn\u2019t be able to come back from a score like that against us.\u201d When asked about all the talk that went on before the game, the forward said, \u201cThey can say anything they like. The Final Four was established to put pressure on us, and in this first game we withstood the pressure. I hope we\u2019ll do the same in the final. If we play like we did today, we\u2019ll win.\u201d<\/FONT> <\/P> Guy Pnini<\/B> said, \u201cIf we play our game, obviously we can beat any team. We need to finish this great season we\u2019ve had with a good taste in our mouths. We didn\u2019t really pay much attention to the things they were saying in Rishon Lezion, because we couldn\u2019t tell if they were serious or not. We just focused on ourselves and prepared very well.\u201d<\/FONT> \u201cWe wanted to open with strong defense, and I\u2019m happy it worked,\u201d David Blu<\/B> remarked. \u201cThe guys came off the bench and really put on a show. When we demonstrate that much ability, it\u2019s really hard to beat us. We were really focused and that was the key to our win. I don\u2019t see a situation in which we wouldn\u2019t win on Thursday. It\u2019s going to be exciting.\u201d<\/FONT> Richard Hendrix<\/B> added, \u201cWe prepared well this last week, and it was nice to see how it paid off for us. The final\u2019s going to be a good game; I just hope we bring the same intensity that we\u2019ve had up until now.\u201d<\/FONT><\/P>
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