This is what the protagonists had to say after the Round 23 showdown between Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.
Post-game quotes: Maccabi vs. Fenerbahce
Avi Even, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv head coach:
“We won. This is the first goal that we had. We weren’t at our best, but I’m happy that we managed to squeeze the last few minutes, to bring more energy, better defense, better execution on offense. We need to learn also to win when we’re not playing great. That’s part of being a good team.”
Sasa Djordjevic, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul head coach:
"Congratulations to Maccabi for the win. I think we played excellent basketball for 38 minutes and then we rushed some shots outside our system that brought us to play a great game in those 38 minutes. Organization-wise, our backup, Ismet Akpinar, brought smart things to the floor and inside our offense, we found good ball movement which we needed against an aggressive Maccabi team, obviously, they are physically really tough to beat one-on-one so the ball needed to move and we found that as I said for 38 minutes and in 2 minutes, lack of execution, lack of ideas, rushing the shots. No need to do it. They finished the game how they finished. I wish them good luck in the playoffs… Our free-throw shooting and also our three-point shooting was not there."
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James Nunnally, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv forward:
"We worked hard to get into this position and we knew we wanted to finish the season out strong. These are games that tune us for the playoffs and everything, every quarter is going to help us get better. Playing more together, just learning where to be. We have a new system, so it will take time, but we’re learning and building, step by step.”
Ante Zizic, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv center:
“For us, it was very important to get some extra confidence before the playoffs. I know tonight wasn’t our best game of the season, we were flat most of the game, but what’s most important is that we got the win and now we can be focused on the playoffs. We didn’t try to calculate, we left everything on the court and now we’re ready for the next step.”