Being just 40 minutes away of the final four, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv knew exactly what they need to do in order for their quest to win the domestic championship to the city will continue. As it was expected from a playoff game the game was intense and things got heated up in the first quarter which the locals finished ahead in double digits, but Spahija's squad kept their composure and remained poised as they won game 4 against Ness Ziona on the road and the series 3:1 as Maccabi qualified to the domestic final four.
"We had a problem with the mess in the first quarter" said Coach Spahija, "I really have to see the film and see what happened, the reaction of my players, they (i.e. Ness Ziona) were up by 10 but we came back and congratulations for the team for cooling down and starting to play basketball. We followed our game plan, our coaching staff did a good job scouting and preparing for the game and that was the result, but I also want to congratulate Ness Ziona and their coach they finished eighth and they gave us a lot of trouble and I think that will help us for the final four. First we need to rest, we played a lot of games this year, and the players deserve to rest then for sure we're going to prepare for the final four, we're gonna take something from this game and we're going to come ready".
"I just wanted to be aggressive, we knew that the start of the third quarter would set the tone for the game" said Norris Cole who scored 24P and finished game four with MVP honors, "We wanted to finish them off tonight, and our team made a great effort, we played great defense tonight, and I'm happy we came out with the win. It's that time of the year, playoff time is money time" when asked about his NBA mindset Cole added: "that's what I'm all about, that's why I'm here, I'm used to playing in big moments my whole career and tonight I wanted to set that example for our team".
"I’m going to do whatever the team needs me to do, some nights it will be scoring a lot, some nights it will be playing hard defense and assists, whatever we have to do it's a team effort and we will bring our A-Game and that's what we need to do, Yalla Maccabi" Norris concluded.
"We had a problem with the mess in the first quarter" said Coach Spahija, "I really have to see the film and see what happened, the reaction of my players, they (i.e. Ness Ziona) were up by 10 but we came back and congratulations for the team for cooling down and starting to play basketball. We followed our game plan, our coaching staff did a good job scouting and preparing for the game and that was the result, but I also want to congratulate Ness Ziona and their coach they finished eighth and they gave us a lot of trouble and I think that will help us for the final four. First we need to rest, we played a lot of games this year, and the players deserve to rest then for sure we're going to prepare for the final four, we're gonna take something from this game and we're going to come ready".
"I just wanted to be aggressive, we knew that the start of the third quarter would set the tone for the game" said Norris Cole who scored 24P and finished game four with MVP honors, "We wanted to finish them off tonight, and our team made a great effort, we played great defense tonight, and I'm happy we came out with the win. It's that time of the year, playoff time is money time" when asked about his NBA mindset Cole added: "that's what I'm all about, that's why I'm here, I'm used to playing in big moments my whole career and tonight I wanted to set that example for our team".
"I’m going to do whatever the team needs me to do, some nights it will be scoring a lot, some nights it will be playing hard defense and assists, whatever we have to do it's a team effort and we will bring our A-Game and that's what we need to do, Yalla Maccabi" Norris concluded.