The yellows completed preparations for round 27 in the Euroleague, ready to face Fenerbahce in Fenerbahce Ulker Sports Arena, Istanbul on Thursday (19:45 Israel time). Maccabi lost all chances to advance to the playoffs but will still try its best to add some wins in this disappointing Euroleague season, currently holding a 9 – 17 record. Fener, with a record of 17 – 9, can clinch its playoff ticket with a win. In the previous meeting, round 7 in Tel Aviv, Maccabi played well and beat Fener 87 – 77. Fener will be missing Bogdan Bogdanovic and Maccabi Andrew Goudelock and Quincy Miller.
Coach Ainars Bagatskis: “For us, as I’ve already said, every game is special and important. We represent the tradition of an organization like Maccabi Tel Aviv. The keys for us are to be aggressive, play good defense and not turn the ball over. We played well for most of the game on Sunday against Hapoel Tel Aviv and will try to translate that to our games this week in the EuroLeague. Fenerbahceis of course one of the best teams in Europe. If we can keep their bigs off the glass and play consistently for 40 minutes, we will have a chance".
Coach Ainars Bagatskis: “For us, as I’ve already said, every game is special and important. We represent the tradition of an organization like Maccabi Tel Aviv. The keys for us are to be aggressive, play good defense and not turn the ball over. We played well for most of the game on Sunday against Hapoel Tel Aviv and will try to translate that to our games this week in the EuroLeague. Fenerbahceis of course one of the best teams in Europe. If we can keep their bigs off the glass and play consistently for 40 minutes, we will have a chance".
Yogev Ohayon: “In Maccabi there is no such thing as a 'meaningless game.' We give 150% every game and our goal is always to win. We're only looking at ourselves and not on the needs of other teams like Fenerbahce”.