Maccabi Tel Aviv defends their star, who once again did not shine in 77:80 over Hapoel Tel Aviv in the derby: "He can rest and he will come back to himself" • Sapropolos complimented Chris Jones and Sandy Cohen Yitch is not serious and he will be eligible for Panathinaikos in the Euroleague
Madar passes Wilbkin
Photo:
Alan Shiver
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"We are not happy with how we played" - this was one of the first sentences that Yannis Sapropoulos said after Maccabi Tel Aviv's narrow 77:80 victory over Hapoel in the derby, "We know we must play better."
The Greek coach was pleased with another comeback made by his players, but really did not like the ability against one of the weakest teams in the league.
"We know how important it is to win a derby, especially in front of the crowd that was here and pushed us," said the team at the end, when they also know that an unsuccessful season in the Euroleague - every stumble in the local arena gets a much larger volume.
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Directly following his ability from the last period in all settings, Chris Jones signed on to win.
The guard broke a career record at Maccabi and scored 26 points, 20 of them in the second half.
He scored the last eight points of the game and is responsible for the three previously scored thanks to two assists.
In the locker room Sapropoulos complimented the player on his ability recently (and also Sandy Cohen), and then said: "He had a great performance."
His friend Oz Blazer added: "What is happening with Chris testifies to his character, he got into a straight pace and did not lower his head for a second, kept working all the time. He did a lot of things on his own, it is not easy at all. See how important he is to us today. "The team and scoring when needed, I enjoy playing next to him. Everyone has to be ready for the team all the time, and he does it."
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The one who continues to worry the Yellows is Scotty Wilbkin, who this time played a lot and is also a partner in the last part of the game, but once again seems far from his usual and familiar ability.
"Scotty is not God, he is a human being like everyone else," Sapropolos tried to reassure, "Every player has ups and downs. He is not in his best period, but he is trying and morale. "Give him a rest, he's coming back, it's a matter of time."
Blazer provided the players' angle: "Scotty's importance to this club does not need to expand. It happens that a player has less good times, there are a million and one reasons, it is very difficult throughout a long season to maintain stability. "Luckily we have a team talented enough to cover less big games of one player or another. I'm sure Scotty will come back to himself."
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Ante Žižić suffered a small blow to the knee and therefore did not play much.
Already during the game, the team doctor examined the chin, and Maccabi believes that this is not a serious injury and that he will be fit for the game against Panathinaikos on Thursday.
