Elijah Bryant and Tarik Black weren't registered towards the game, as Omri Casspi will join them on the sidelines. The youngster Yonatan Atias was included in the roster. In 15 matchups throughout the years in the State Cup, Maccabi leads 12:3 over Jerusalem.
"It's going well, we prepared today towards Jerusalem", Said Tyler Dorsey, about the preparations. "It's an important game for us, and we need our fans to pack up the whole arena and get us going after this long road trip, we are glad to be back home. The loses don't affect us at all, it is a long season, and we dropped two on the road, but now it's time to protect home court".
"The preparation never changes, we already played them twice this season, so they know us, and we know them, it will all come down to performing better and sticking to our tactics", Told Dorsey, that answered about what was lacking in the past two EuroLeague games: "Defensively we had a lot of mistakes, offensively we did what we were supposed to, and we could have played better. Defensively, we will need to change that towards the games this week".
"Everything is a little more familiar for sure", Said Jake Cohen, about facing Jerusalem for the third time this season. "We know their players a little bit better, understand their scheme, but on the other hand, they know us just as well, so it is more of a chess match now. Still, it's an exciting knockout cup game, so it's a big game for us. We got to slow down their offense, they have a lot of good players, nice weapons. They play with great rhythm, if we take them out of it, disrupt and make them uncomfortable, we will be doing a good job".
"I think a lot, this past week didn't go as we wanted", Told Cohen about what can be learned about the team after this past week. "There is a lot of material to work with, in terms of what we can improve, that's playing basketball at the highest level. Jerusalem is a high-level team, too, so if we learn from the past week and apply it tomorrow, we will be in good shape".
I feel like every game in Maccabi is a final", Concluded Cohen. "There is no such thing as a break here. We are used to the pressure and everything about it is extra, we are coming to win the game".
"Every game is different from the previous one, in the Winner Cup, it was too early for us, the second was in the league, and tomorrow it's a knockout game, and it will be completely different", Answered coach Giannis Sfairopoulos. "We know them, they know us so the most important thing is to do the best we can on the court. We need to play smart, read what they are doing and execute offensively, attacking their weaknesses. Defensively, focus on their main directions and actions, to stop them and play in our standards".
Omri still feels pain, he does feel much better, but his knee will keep him out for a couple of more days", Responded Sfairopoulos about his forward. "Omri is one of our leading players, everyone saw what he could do on the court. We miss him a couple of weeks now, we learned to play without him, and hopefully he will come back soon".