Maccabi Tel Aviv visit Alba Berlin on Thursday (21:00) to open up the second round of Euroleague games. Both teams sport identical 7-10 records after the first round of contests as the German squad will be looking to avenge a Gameday 1 defeat suffered in Israel.

On the eve of Israel’s third serious lockdown (It really began last week, but it never actually implemented) Coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos, Yovel Zoosman and Elijah Bryant reflected on the upcoming clash but also discussed the pandemic and its effects in Israel, to themselves, abroad and also what it has done to the game of basketball.

“I don’t believe that either side can surprise each other,” began Sfairopoulos. “We know they are playing well, but they can win in Euroleague but lost easily in the league. We know each other and the most important thing is to be ready mentally to fight. Fight for every ball and every game.”

Yovel Zoosman who has recently returned to the lineup after being out injured also spoke about what the keys to victory will be in Germany, “It’s all in our hands and while we are under .500 we still will battle to be focussed and win at Alba Berlin. Every player has to be ready to play with the goal of winning. If it’s one minute or ten minutes you have to produce on the court if not then you won’t play.”

Most importantly, Maccabi needs to come in with high energy and get off to a good start which is what they did in their last two domestic games against Hapoel Jerusalem in the league and Hapoel Tel Aviv in the State Cup, “We have to focus on ourselves and bring high energy, they have good players who can execute at a high level. We are trying to get better every single game as we did in these last few Israeli games. As coach says if we come out and fight and we lose, we lose. But coming with fighting spirit and energy will put us in a good situation down the stretch.”

“It’s important to fight for every game and we will see at the end what will happen,” Sfairopoulos stated. “We are only focusing on the actual game and there are 17 games left. I think everything can go well as I am happy how we are practicing and improving and how the injured players have jelled. We are playing all together. We are improving and I think we have good potential for the future.”

The lockdown, which will go into effect on Thursday night at midnight, will bring a halt to Israeli league games both in basketball and soccer which has raised the ire of many within the sports world stating that sports are essential. Zoosman was the first to make mention of that,
“Over the last two weeks my parents didn’t come to see me play as they couldn’t due to the regulations, but we all have to continue following the rules. I believe that sports are a necessity and are essential and it’s been hard for people who haven’t been able to come to games so they have been able to watch on TV.”

Bryant said that the lockdown has allowed him to spend quality time with his immediate family, “Every guy’s circumstances are different and for me I try to control what I can control which is to spend time with my family being that I just had a son. It’s not so bad for me because I get to some time with my son and my wife. It’s a unique situation but it’s a positive situation for athletes being able to spend time with their families.”

Coach Sfairopoulos went to the core of the matter as he tried to explain that we are in the midst of a pandemic that is affecting the entire world, “This year is a different year and we want to win, but you know the reality and situation that this isn’t real basketball playing in empty gyms. We forget that we are in a pandemic. We are flying and risking ourselves to do our job and do what we love which is to play basketball. Most important is to stay safe. Things are complicated all over the world. Hopefully we will have less incidents here in Israel, but there are a lot of people infected. Most importantly we have to protect ourselves, our families and our friends. We have to stay disciplined and cut it down. The vaccines are going to the people who are at risk and then it will open up to the general public. This is also important to cut down the virus.”