The defeat of Maccabi Tel Aviv by Olympiakos for the 22nd matchday of the Euroleague, the coach of the Israelis tried to explain in his statements at the press conference after the end of the match, Odent Katas.
After making it clear that the “red and whites” were superior and deserved the victory, he emphasized that to win in the SEF you have to play your best game, while he also talked about how difficult it is for his team because of the situation in Israel.
What the Maccabi coach said in detail:
“Overall, Olympiacos played better than us and deserved to win. They may have lost some matches but they are a very good team that knows what they are doing. To beat him on his home court, we had to play the perfect game. We missed some rebounds, we made some mistakes but we fought to get back into the match and twice. At the beginning of the second half they hit consecutive shots, while we missed free kicks. We should have played better. We had some good periods well in defense but you have to play a complete game here”.
About the difficulties his team is facing due to the situation in Israel: “First of all, the situation in Israel is very difficult. And I’m not talking about basketball. We are emotionally charged. It’s crazy what’s happening. As far as basketball is concerned, I also wonder how we manage to manage this situation. If they had told us that at the end of the first round we would have this record, we would not have believed them. All credit goes to the players. We have agreed with all the players and the coaching staff not to use what is happening as an excuse. We have a very difficult program ahead of us”.
On the 13 assists for 13 mistakes and the absence of Lorenzo Brown: “The 13 assists for 13 mistakes show our image. When we play the right way we have more assists than mistakes. It’s a combination. We missed Lorenzo but we lacked passion and composure in our game. The way Olympiacos plays in defense, it gave us few things and led us to many mistakes”.
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
