Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv will host Bayern Munich on Thursday night as part of the 12th fixture of the 2019/20 EuroLeague season (21:00, live on Sport5 - channel 55). The Yellow & Blue hold a perfect 5:0 record at Menorah Mivtachim Arena this European season. As for the Germans, they come into this game with a 4:7 record, looking for their first road win of the season.
"Tomorrow, we play a very important game against a team that will try to find their first away victory to cover for some of their home loses", Said coach Giannis Sfairopoulos in the pre-game press conference. "For this reason, we need to be concentrated, focused, and ready to play a tough game. Bayern is a very organized team, they know what they want to do on the court, so that means we need to be ready to read what they do and stop them defensively. On the offensive end, we need to be patient to find the best option to execute".
As always, we want our fans to be our sixth player, to support us with their voice and help the players to bring success tomorrow", added Sfairopoulos. "Bayern is a team that plays a lot in the post, so they play a different game than most that play pick and rolls. That's why I said we need to read them and be smart to stop them".
"It's never an easy game, you always have to take it one game at a time", Told Tyler Dorsey to reporters. "They are going to come in here ready trying to get their first road win, so we have to protect home court and continue to do what we have been doing lately at home. We dealt with playing in the post, but it's definitely a different style that a team plays more there than the pick and roll. We are going to work on that today and be prepared for that".
"It is a long season, there are injuries, and that will happen", Explained Dorsey about the team traveling in different ways to help decrease injuries. "We need as much rest as we can get during a long road stretch to take care of our bodies, that definitely helps going forward".
"We can always get better, it's only two months into the season, and we have a long way to go", Added the guard. "It's a day by day process with everybody around the team, we need to get better every day, and we are in good shape, but we can be way better."
"At the end of the day we are men, we pride ourselves on defense", Said Othello Hunter, towards the matchup against Greg Monroe. "If we got a guy that we know he is good in the post, we are going to try to beat him to the spot, making it hard for him, and go from there".
"Every team in EuroLeague can compete, it doesn't matter if they are at the top or bottom of the league", Replied Hunter. So far they haven't won on the road, but they are a good team. We still need to be ready to prepare for a great game, and I think, for us, it all starts defensively".
"This is a winning team, I like to play, but the coach wanted to rest me", Said the veteran center. "For me, it doesn't matter to rest or not, I'll be ready to play no matter what".
