The Croatian is happy after his big show at 94:99 on Barcelona: "I did not hear the reviews" • Sapropolos: "If the fans were with us this season we would not lose so many games" • Sharas: "Israel did a good job with the Corona" • Hunter The Yellows are not expected to continue
Zizic celebrates last night in the hall
Photo:
Alan Shiver
1. Great pride in Maccabi Tel Aviv after the huge 94:99 last night (Tuesday) against Barcelona.
"We should have been in a completely different place this year," the club said, "and now we want to show the character and ability in the remaining games and get as many wins as possible by the end of the season."
Yannis Sapropoulos put his finger on two key parameters that led to the prestigious win that completed a season double over the table leader: "We play without pressure, and when we played with pressure we didn't play well. Our losses at the start of the season affected us. Now we see fun and play more relaxed."
The coach added: "The fans were great and if they were in the games at the beginning of the season, we would not lose so much at home. They were only 3,000 but sounded like a full house. It was very important that they are with us, because Maccabi plays here and abroad with a lot of fans. We lacked support and this year. "
2. And on the professional side, there is no doubt that the most significant factor is of course Ante Zizic.
The Croatian chin provided his best game in the yellow uniform with an impressive stat line of 24 points, 8 rebounds and a 33-pointer.
"Honestly I did not follow the media and did not hear the reviews but I was focused on my game and how I get better day by day," said the outstanding player, "I knew I would get into good game fitness, and recently I play well, in basketball the most important thing is to win games and if players have ups "And relegations are fine, they're human. I'm sure in another game someone else will rise."
His coach complimented him and Dragan Bender who also gave a very good game on both sides of the pitch: "We supported them all season because we knew they were good players. When we brought them in we knew they had abilities. I said many times their job is not easy, they are talented but still young and need to learn. "Players with ten years of experience in the Euroleague who always play well. They have talent, they were in the NBA but this is the first time they have such a role at the club at the level of Maccabi Tel Aviv and they had to adapt to it."
Along with the desire to finish the Euroleague season strong and of course to win two titles in the Israeli arena, Maccabi Tel Aviv is thinking about the next season and by all estimates Othello Hunter is not expected to continue.
As it seems, Ante Žižić will remain in accordance with his contract in the 2021/22 season and Maccabi will bring a young and athletic inside player who will share position No. 5 with him.
With that, Hunter will end two seasons in the yellow uniform.
Last season he was one of the best domestic players on the continent and a key factor in the yellow success.
This season his advanced age alongside some bothersome injuries and persistent back pain impaired his ability and caused him to miss a few games.
4. And there is also the other side.
Sharas won a lot of sympathy from the yellow crowd before the game, and after that he knew how to thank.
"I appreciate it. It's always nice to come to Israel, it's a different situation here, life is almost normal, people are walking the streets, congratulations on the country who were smart with this epidemic, you did a good job with the corona. I have so many friends here, but always no I have enough days to be here because we have work to do. "
"We lost this loss," the Lithuanian coach also commented on the professional side, "We have not played good basketball lately. We barely won on Sunday, we did not play well against Alba, we have to finish the regular season well, it's one thing to talk about it, nothing. Other to do it.Everything was decided on a few small details, in the end we were not tough enough.I said in the half we missed an incredible amount of free throws and shots under the basket.When giving a talented and trained team opportunities they will take advantage of them.That's how we give games, It's not an important game, but it's a lesson. "