Dusko Ivanovic stated after the match against Maccabi Tel Aviv: "No doubt that it is a very important victory. We beat the reigning Euroleague champion and this is something special. The most important thing is that we defended our home court and we proved, especially in the second half, that we are a team that can play with patience and good defense. We had to play a very difficult game and it took us 20 minutes to make the adjustments. We knew that they run and maybe they have the best transition game in the Euroleague, but there is always a difference between what the coach says and what the players do on the court."
The coach of Maccabi, Guy Goodes noted: "It’s a very disappointing loss, because for three quarters we played fantastic. It was a very good game for us tactically, we brought them to exactly where we wanted, but we messed up the little things and that worked against us. So it goes in close games. We suffered from missed free throws and 12 turnovers that led to 21 points for them, which is a lot. We missed a few rebounds in the end and that's how the victory slipped away from us.
We didn’t have Jeremy Pargo in the last minutes, but that is not an excuse for the loss. We committed serious mistakes in the crucial moments, including missed free throws and rebounds. Although we had a lead in double digits and we were controlling the tempo of the game, we allowed Panathinaikos to come back and get the win. When you play at OAKA , with this atmosphere, you have to keep concentration for 40 minutes and not be naïve”
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