Maccabi Tel Aviv missed a chance to clinch the championship on Sunday night, as Hapoel Tel Aviv beat it again in another close game and cut the Israeli Basketball Premier League final series to 2:1. The loss delayed the celebrations Maccabi had been hoping for.
After the game, coach Oded Kattash said the team came in highly motivated but did not play in its usual style. “We wanted it very much and the players came out with a lot of energy,” he said. “Sometimes they wanted too much because we did not play the way we are used to. We rushed, and that was not the right way.”
Kattash said Maccabi knew from the start that the series would be difficult, and that fatigue would be a factor. He said the team did not shoot well, and that some substitutions were made not only for matchups but also to give players a chance to breathe. “We knew the series would also depend on tiredness and we would have to fight it,” he said.
With only two days before the next game, Kattash said he was unsure where the energy would come from, but insisted the team had to reset quickly. “We need to lift our heads, we have only two days, I do not know where to get the strength from but we will have to do it in the next game,” he said. “We will recover, lift our heads, and it will only be sweeter.”
