Maccabi Tel Aviv started the season with a wide professional team, which included coach Yannis Sapropoulos and three assistants - Vasilis Yragotlis, Noam Levy and Doron Perkins. From the recent success of the Yellows.
Moshe Ben Simhon
Before the opening of the quarter-final series against Real Madrid, the two sat down for a special interview with "Israel Today".
"It will be a special experience," says Levy.
"We are already looking forward to the first game's jump ball. We have faith in ourselves and the ability of the players to do beautiful things in the series."
Perkins adds: "The truth is, we have a lot of work, a lot of preparation and a lot of professional things to think about, so I think a little less about the feelings and the excitement."
Perkins and Levi.
Exciting farewell to Mianis, Photo: Udi Citiat
Real in a bad time.
Can Maccabi pass them and reach the Final Four?
Perkins:
"We have a chance. Although Real is not in a good period, but it is a great team. All we need is a chance, and I appreciate that we have a very good chance."
"There are new energies"
The moments of parting from Metropolis and his assistant Vasilis Iragotlis were difficult for all Maccabi Tel Aviv members, especially for the professional team members, who have shared many hours together since the start of the season and faced all the difficulties and criticisms during the great professional crisis.
"The farewell meeting was very emotional," Levy says of his recent conversation with the Greek coach before leaving the team.
"Think these are people you are very close to, sometimes closer than your friends and family. You see them all the time in difficult situations, victories and losses, and breaking up suddenly it's very difficult. You get to the office and he's not there, it's not easy. We said keep in touch, and it really is It happens, we are in touch to this day. "
Perkins and Levi.
Deep head in Real Madrid,
Doron, what did not work for Yannis?
"I can not know exactly what did not work. There are some other details that we have started to pay attention to lately, but in the end the change came from the players, who started playing for each other. There are new energies, and winning a few games helps a lot in confidence and feelings within the team."
Perkins (38) played for Maccabi at the beginning of the previous decade and was a key partner in the 2010/11 season for one of the Yellows' most exciting teams.
Unfortunately, he was seriously injured in the Euroleague quarter-final series against Basconia, and to this day many claim that with him there is a good chance that Maccabi would have won the cup and not lost in the final to Panathinaikos.
Yannis Sapropoulos.
"It was very difficult to break up," Photo: Alan Schieber
"This circle has already closed," says the former American player, "now it's a new round. I'm on a crazy journey in a crazy year. You know what, if we continue this way and keep moving forward, it could really be a closing circle for us. I want to do it as a coach. "
Maccabist from birth
Levy (32) is a macabre from the belly and Mali de, and not as a cliché.
He grew up as a player in the club's youth department, when the person who coached him was none other than Avi Even.
Levy also played for the youth teams, but retired at an early age due to injuries.
Noam Levy.
A warm recommendation from Avi Even, Photo: Udi Citiat
He soon found himself a coach in the yellow youth butt disease, progressed rapidly and in recent years joined the team of the senior team, on the recommendation of Stone, head of the scouting department.
In recent months, the personal circle has closed, and the two together lead one of the largest teams in Europe.
"In our world there are closing circles all the time, I'm gut-wrenching from birth and I'm very proud of it. It's an experience and advice for me to be in this class, but we leave emotions aside and come to win the first game. Our job is to deal with the professional side. Nothing beyond. "
Have you ever dreamed that you are in Belgrade with thousands of fans painting the hall yellow?
Perkins:
"My dream is to play in the games in Madrid and then get to the third game in Tel Aviv with our good chance of passing. If that happens, I'm sure there will be chaos in the hall. Nobody wants to come here and play in front of us. It's my dream, This is Maccabi. "
Doron Perkins.
Second term at Maccabi Tel Aviv, Photo: Udi Citiat
Levy:
"When you asked that, I imagined for a moment what it would look like, but I quickly lowered myself and went back to dealing with the here and now. We have a task to complete."
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