After falling in Game 5 in Athens, Maccabi’s head of bench spoke of how proud he was of the team
Eliminated Maccabi’s Coach Kattash hailed his players as 'champions'
Article
3 Mins read
A long and grueling EuroLeague season came to an end for Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on Tuesday night when the team lost Game 5 of the playoffs for the second straight year. But after the 81-72 loss to Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens at OAKA Altion, there was tremendous pride in the Israeli champs’ locker room.
“I am really proud of the players. For me that group of guys are real champions, even though we didn’t qualify for the Final Four,” head coach Oded Kattash said in the post-game press conference.
Despite missing its star player and All-EuroLeague Team candidate Wade Baldwin for all but 7 minutes of the last four games of the series, Maccabi pushed Panathinaikos to the limit and elicited praise from its opponents.
“Maccabi is not easy to beat. They gave us a heard series,” Panathinaikos’s top scorer Kendrick Nunn said in his post-game comments.
His backcourt mate Kostas Sloukas added: “I respect Kattash a lot; he’s a great coach. And they played without Baldwin.”
Missing Baldwin naturally marred Maccabi’s chances and when asked what he wished he could have done differently in the series, Katash replied: “Pray to God that Wade Baldwin wouldn’t get injured.”
“I am really proud of the players, don’t get me wrong. Even though we missed Wade for almost all the series, we fought hard. Usually we had a lack of energy. We missed some ball handlers at the end of games. We missed one of our biggest leaders and best players, even though we gave ourselves a chance and I am really proud of that. That was the moment that changed the series. But we proved that we are a really good basketball team, that we have character.”
Katash also spoke about “the spirit of the players”, which his captain John DiBartolomeo addressed.
“I think this team has a lot to be proud of,” DiBartolomeo said. “It’s one of my favorite teams that I’ve been on.”
DiBartolomeo played a bigger role in Baldwin’s absence and contributed 9 points, 3, rebounds, 3 assists and tough defense in 26 minutes on the floor.
Game Videos
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Sorkin beats the buzzer! Motorola Magic Moment
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- 00:12
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Rayman hammers it home! Motorola Magic Moment
“I think we showed a lot of character this year as a team,” center Josh Nebo added. “We showed a lot of resiliency through everything that we’ve been through. But obviously, with all that said, it’s still very disappointing that we didn’t get the job done. We were here last year and the goal for us was to make it to the Final Four. Overall, there is nothing to be disappointed with.”
Kattash summed up: “Nobody really gave us a chance after October 7. People maybe sometimes forget that we played only one homecourt game. Under those circumstances, to achieve what we achieved, that’s special. It’s hard to talk right now after you lose Game 5. That was my dream, I believe the players want is as much as I want it, as much as the coaching staff wants it – but we’re going to keep our heads up and we’re really proud of the way that we had this year, it’s really special.”