1.
Maccabi Tel Aviv came out disappointed after the 88:82 loss last night (Monday) away to Hapoel Holon, which dropped them to fourth place in the table.
"We were not focused enough at certain stages of the game," Yannis Sapropoulos said at the conclusion.
"We started the game very well with a lot of effort and concentration, we scored 27 points and allowed Holon only 19 points. From this stage we lost concentration, and allowed the opponent to score easy points. They finished with very good percentages, we had a very hard time staying in the game with 88 points. "We had to be more defensively focused, we stopped Euroleague teams by less than 70 points. We had to be more prepared to play such difficult games."
Angelo Cloiaro added: "In defense we were not good enough, we put them back in the game and that's what we did wrong and made us lose. But this is a long season, we knew we would not win all the games this season, we will have to come back tomorrow, easy training and start preparing for CSKA The forward also referred to the atmosphere that was in the hall: "They have a home advantage on this pitch, it's hard to play here because of the atmosphere."
Maccabi commented on the fact that both Scotty Wilbkin and Ante Zizic are out of the squad.
"It is true that Scotty is the leader, but we have already won games without him and we can win games even when he is out of the squad. From now on we are all face to CSKA."
Sapropolus.
"We need to be more prepared", Photo: Alan Schieber,
2.
Holon are happy with the prestigious victory and completely forgot about the loss to Hapoel Jerusalem eight days ago.
The victories over Cluj in Europe and the Yellows among the top in the league brought the Purples back on track, both defensively and offensively.
Most of the compliments were squeezed out by Chris Johnson, who was chosen as the best player in the game after another great performance against one of the best teams in Europe.
"I want a thousand players like Chris," Mauricio Buscalia said.
"He takes over a few positions, he does varied things and all the players stick with him."
Johnson himself added: "We bring mostly energy. Last week against Jerusalem we did not have it, we were in a different situation. We have to come and play like this, because every team wants to beat us."
Another player who won compliments is Frederick Bourdieu, whose minutes on the field Holon won by 17, more than any other player on the field.
"Freddie does all the little-big things that no one notices, but they are the ones that bring you the win in games so hard and tight."
Pearls, Bourdon, Ogden and Johnson.
Holon's huge game, Photo: Alan Shiver,