By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv defeated Galil/Gilboa 72 – 70 in a nail-biter and will face Maccabi Haifa Heat in the final on Thursday.
After Tuesday night’s game, Maccabi head coach Pini Gershon said, “There are dynamics in every game, and sometimes what you plan doesn’t work out. For most of the game, our players had to work extra hard.”
“We had lineups of players who aren’t used to playing together, and we did pretty well.
We had to play without Marcus Brown, and for most of the game Carlos didn’t play well,” the coach added.
“We played better and we deserve the win, but we should have done more to spoil their momentum.
Both of the teams in the other semi-final game are good; you saw that it ended in overtime.
We need to prepare properly.”
Omri Casspi said, “We played well.
We worried at the end; there was pressure and anxiety.
We made some huge shots.
Now we need to start thinking about Maccabi Haifa.
They’re a great team and had a big win over
We really miss Marcus Brown on the court; I hope he’ll be able to play on Thursday.”
“I feel good,” said Marcus Brown after the game.
“We struggled a little, and we had too many holes.
We need to be patient and see what happens on Thursday.
We shouldn’t match our game to them, but should focus on what we need to do.
Galil head coach, Oded Katash, took responsibility after the game and admitted he made a mistake.
“We should have fouled.
It’s a bad feeling.
In the first half, we froze up.
We just weren’t in the game.
They were better than we were in every respect, and we just weren’t there.
Still, we were able to finish the half down by only seven, even though we played poorly.
It’s not the first time it’s happened to us this season; I guess we need to feel the pressure before we really start to play.
It happens a lot that even when you’re at your best, it’s not enough against Maccabi.”
“We did a lot of things right, and a lot of things wrong,” added Katash in analyzing the game.
“On the one hand, we didn’t get to the line enough, and on the other hand we sent them there too often.
I think that’s the price you pay for lack of experience.
We had the chance for an upset, because Maccabi wasn’t at their best.”
When asked to summarize the season, Katash said, “It’s hard to finish up with a feeling like this.
With time, our perspective will be different.”