Rafasha recalled the final in 2004: "It was impossible to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in such an atmosphere"
The Bologna coach, who was defeated with his team 118: 74 in the memorable Euroleague final, revealed in an interview: "Maccabi was a great team, but the home court played a major role. It was hell. I let the youngsters play in the second half because I realized it was impossible to win."
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08/02/2022
Tuesday, 08 February 2022, 11:45 Updated: 12:13
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Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball knew many great games in history, but perhaps the biggest game of all was the huge 74: 118 over Bologna in the Final Four in Tel Aviv, a game that the Yellows reached only thanks to the famous "Miracle Zalgiris", a game that put the Yellows in the final Four in which they defeated CSKA Moscow in the semifinals. The one who coached on the lines of the Italians then was Jasmine Rafsha.
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"It was impossible to win in such an environment," said the Croatian coach, "it was like hell. Maccabi was a very good team with players like Parker, Sharas, Wojciech, Baston, but the home court played a major role."
"They opened the game in an amazing way, they scored from the outside, even from ten meters, they scored all their shots. David Blue was unstoppable," Rafsa added, "at the end of the first half, I realized it was impossible to win this game."
"David Blue was unstoppable" (Photo: Meged Guzni)
Rafsha praised one of the greatest teams in the history of the Euroleague, but Bologna, then Fortitudo, was also full of stars such as Marco Bellinelli, Stefano Mancinelli, Erdem Lorbeck, Gianloga Basilla and others.
Of course, Maccabi Tel Aviv broke the record for the difference in the final game of the Euroleague, when Rafsa also played a big part in this.
"In the second half I decided to give young players as well as young players like Bellinelli, Manchinelli and Lorbeck. For me, losing by 10 points or 30 points is the same thing. So I wanted to give young players minutes to take part in such an event and rub against the future. People think I gave up "About the game, but it's not true. The game was impossible for us, we had no chance."
sport
basketball
Euroleague and European basketball
Tags
Jasmine Rapsha
Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball