After the derby victory and promotion to the Final Four, the standout added: "We had to win and it worked through the defense" • Sapropoulos: "I always try to smile, but sometimes you do not know when to laugh and when to be serious. We worked hard and controlled most stages of the game."

• Dorsey, tonight at the auditorium

  Photo: 

  Oded Karni

Tonight (Thursday), Maccabi Tel Aviv reached the third derby in the quarterfinals of the Premier League in basketball with quite a few problems. The Yellows did not show good ability in the first two games of the series against the city rival, lacked quite a few injured players and Scotty Wilbkin who was sent off today by the disciplinary tribunal after the derby erupted towards the referees on Tuesday and with all professional problems, Sapropolos and his trainees knew the pressure was on them.

In the end with another game that did not show impressive ability but with a lot of character, whoever finished in 1st place in the regular season will appear and will play this coming Sunday in the Final Four against Hapoel Gilboa / Galil.

Tyler Dorsey, who excelled in the game: “There is no relief we won, we had to win and it worked through the defense. Scotty Wilbkin was missing and a few more players, but we had confidence. The playoffs are tough, we need to get ready for the next game. There was a lot of pressure, talk and I like to be under pressure and I come prepared. "

Sapropolos in a frenzy, tonight at the Heichal // Photo: Oded Karni 

Yannis Sapropoulos, the coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, said after the game: “I always try to smile, but sometimes you do not know when to laugh and when to be serious. We worked hard and controlled most of the game. Except at the start of the second half, we deserved to win and well done to the players. Tyler Dorsey? I will not talk about one player, he is a goal player and it is the job of all the players, they are all excellent, there were 9 that I used and that is the meaning of a team. I think this week has brought all the teams in peak motivation and concentration. We will be ready for the next game, rest and prepare for our next challenge. "

Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Yannis Castritis analyzed from his side: "There is no doubt that our players presented one hundred percent, at the end I saw some of them finished, on the verge of fainting. There is no doubt that we arrived ready on the mental level. .