Ante Zizic to "Israel Hayom": "We were not united, we swept the problems under the carpet" | Israel today

One of Maccabi Tel Aviv's biggest losses last summer was Ante Zizic.

The center, who in his second season in the team became one of the leading players in the Euroleague, received an offer from the champion Anadolu Eps and left a big hole in the front line.

Tomorrow (Thursday) he will return with the Turkish team for the first time to the Menorah Mitvahim Hall and will meet Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 16th round of the top league in Europe.

Just before stepping on the familiar carpet in Tel Aviv again, Žižić was available for an interview with Israel Hayom.

Žižić.

Returning to Tel Aviv, photo: EPA

Annette, how does it feel to return to the hall and meet Maccabi and the fans for the first time?

"It's an amazing feeling, when I landed in Israel I immediately felt longing and memories of my time here. I missed Israel, at the beginning of the season when the schedule of games was published, I immediately looked for the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the hall and marked it in my diary."

Why did you decide to leave for the European champions in the summer?

"Last season was the best personal season of my career. I had many offers, also from Maccabi, but I didn't know what the team would look like, who would stay and who would be the coach. At the same time, I received an offer from Anadolu Efes and I couldn't refuse it."

"You can't say no to Anadolu, they are Euroleague champions two years in a row and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. If I had waited or refused it, I might not have gotten this opportunity again."

What didn't work for you last year at Maccabi Tel Aviv?

"I don't want to say that something was missing, because we had a good streak, we played great and beat good teams, but in the series against Real Madrid we were no longer able to compete against them, we got punched and couldn't get up. We lost our self-confidence, our connection and our chemistry ".

Zizich in Maccabi Tel Aviv uniform, photo: EPA

Scotty Wilbkin said not long ago that there were problems in the locker room.

Did you feel that way too?

"Things are always simpler when you win, when you lose problems start to emerge. If you have a unified and strong dressing room you solve things, but if the dressing room is not unified and connected you sweep things under the carpet and then the small things become big problems. This is exactly what happened For us, I don't know how we lost the chemistry in the dressing room, but judging by the result, we went from a team that can beat any team every night to a team that can suddenly lose any game."

As someone who played in both teams, what are the differences between the clubs in terms of professionalism, pressure and ambitions?

"In both clubs there is pressure, but in Anadolu you have to win every game in the Euroleague, they expect you to win, that's the goal. If you don't win in the Euroleague, you fail. Maccabi wants to win, but in the Euroleague how do you have that pressure, realistically reaching the playoffs or the Final Four is a great achievement for Maccabi Here it's a basic duty, it's not an achievement."

Žižić: "At Maccabi a playoff is success, at Anadolu a championship", photo: EPA

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