Ainers in Gatzkis: "In Maccabi Tel Aviv - I did not sleep at night" | Israel Today

"I was promised players and they did not bring" • "No coach in the world could fix the situation" • "Maybe they regret firing me" • "Every loss is a tragedy for this club" • "I was told not to go to Maccabi" • Just before the meeting with Ness Ziona, the former Yellows coach, shoots in all directions

• In Gatzkis.

  Bad memories from Maccabi

  Photo: 

  Alan Shiver

Some fans in Israel have already forgotten about Iners Bagatzkis, who served as Maccabi Tel Aviv's coach for five months during the 2016/17 season, which is remembered by everyone as the "Five Coaches Season". Unlike the fans, the Latvian coach did not forget anything. 

"I remember everything," he told Israel Today in a special interview from Ukraine, where he coaches BC Kiev, who will play tonight against Nes Ziona in the quarterfinals of the European Cup.

"At first Maccabi offered me to come and I said 'no', because I promised myself and David Blatt that I would stay (he was Blatt's assistant at Drushpaka; YM), but David said I had to go and check this opportunity." 

"I was the third coach already in December and I did not bring in players, although the club promised me that we would bring," he continues, "I came to correct the situation and at first we succeeded together with the assistants. We won the trophy, despite injuries and imbalance in the team. "That won the Euroleague championship that season. Then in five days we lost three out of four coordinators due to injuries, and there was no coach in the world who could fix the situation. .

You said they promised you players and did not bring.

So whose responsibility is it, yours as a coach or the management?

"The coach is to blame for everything, I will not give you any comment on that. Despite the situation, we won the cup and won big games in the Euroleague. In the Israeli league there are smart coaches who know how to take opponents out of the comfort zone, and because of our lack of back line. "The half-line they attacked and disrupted our game."

"The coach is to blame for everything"

The Latvian coach says that the club was under a lot of pressure that season.

"Some of the nights I did not sleep because I was constantly thinking how I could fix the situation. Try for a moment to imagine and see that it was impossible. I did the best I could."

Do you remember the protests of the fans that season?

"This is Maccabi. I do not know what the situation is now because I understand that they have a coach of a serious size, but if you get the coaching job at Maccabi, you have to be prepared for the fact that every loss is a tragedy for the club." 

Maccabi replaced you and still did not win the championship. 

"In this case I think maybe the management regrets. They had a goal when they fired me - to win the championship. They did not succeed with a new coach, so what can I already say."

And for you, in retrospect, was it a mistake to reach Maccabi in the middle of the season, in the difficult situation it was in?

"A lot of coaches advised me not to go to Maccabi as a third coach in the middle of the season because the situation there is crazy. I corrected what was needed at that moment, but then another situation came. I do not regret anything, it was a great experience to be part of Maccabi, which is one of the biggest clubs in Europe. I know for a fact that I could have been more successful if I had brought in players myself. "

There is an issue that is still unresolved for us.

What happened in the Sonny Wiems "Prohibited Substances" affair?

"I can not say anything about it. I arrived about a month ago, he was a professional and played very well for me. Beyond that, ask the club."

One thing from that season in Gatzkis is not sorry - the first half of the season he spent alongside Blatt in Drushpaka.

"For me it was really a great time. That summer I got some offers from other teams to serve as head coach, but I chose to be David's assistant, and to this day I see how David and his tactics and the way he made players help me. It was a good time and I gained experience. "I know I can give the assistants a lot of responsibility. David is a big name in the whole basketball world, not just in Europe, and the way he made players was amazing, it was a great honor for me to work alongside him."

"Everyone dreams of a degree"

Since leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv, he moved to Gatzkis (53) in Bamberg and in the last two years returned to the country where he broke out as coach in the first half of the previous decade, and was appointed coach of BC Kiev. Last season he finished second and this season he leads the table. Ukraine team and qualified for the European Championship 2022. Tonight he will meet Ness Ziona in a bubble in the Netherlands and will try to step up in Europe.

"Always before games I set the odds at 50:50. I know their coach and some of the players well. For me it's like a final and both teams have an equal chance. In this tournament all teams can dream of the title."

You coached in the Euroleague and the EuroCup and also did a great job in the national teams.

Will we see you one day return to coaching at the highest levels of Europe?

"Yes, for sure. I know my job very well and know how to make teams and build them. Of course you can not be alone and need good basketball people around you. I have very good assistants who give me a lot, and I bring in very talented fresh youngsters. If you want to be a coach Successful, you need to have a good team. "