Hapoel Tel Aviv will look to take a step towards playing in the 205-26 edition of the Euroleague when they tip-off against Valencia in their best-of-3 EuroCup semifinal series that gets underway on Tuesday night in Spain. Game two will be a Reds “home” contest that will be played in Samokov, Bulgaria on Friday night while if necessary will be back at La Fonteta the following week with the winner punching their ticket to the competition’s final which will feature either Gran Canaria or Bahcesehir.

Ahead of game one, Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis and Captain Bar Timor spoke about the challenge that they will face when they take on one of the ACB’s best club’s.

“We know that we represent also Israeli Basketball and we’re proud of this,” Itoudis began. “We’re proud that we are building, creating and writing history for Hapoel Tel Aviv fans, supporters and obviously the club, but other than that we’re going to get into the rhythm to play the game. We talked [about how] this is a series of games, this is how we will approach it and obviously the first game has a significance as also the second game and if needed the third one. We want to get in the game having all of the knowledge as always regards of the great things our opponent can do and obviously some of the weaknesses which we’ll try to use. We know it’s going to be difficult, but we’re here for the difficult things and to fight.”

When owner Ofer Yannay brought in the 2x Euroleague champion head coach, Itoudis knew that all eyes would be on him and that he would be under pressure to perform and take the Reds to the promised land.

“100%. You know me better, I put more pressure on myself for sure, but the pressure comes with the job, I wouldn’t do that if it’s not the pressure, that’s also the good part. In your life you have anxiety, stress, but when this stress is a positive stress which is a creative stress then it makes you feel more creative and be more productive. The only part that we’re missing is the experience of players playing such games in a playoff series, but I think we had created a very healthy atmosphere where each and every one can support each other in terms of understanding at that certain moment who is the one who can flourish and bring something to the table.”

“Obviously to win against Valencia in a series of a best-of-three you need many other things because Valencia is a great team that has the ability to run the floor and score a lot of creative spot shots. With the analysis we have made, this is the best team out of the NBA scoring wise, 3-pointers and spot shots percentage wise and also shooting wise.”

Hapoel knows that in a series you can make a mistake or perhaps even two, but the margin of error is still very thin especially in a series that is the best-of-3 and not a best-of-5 or 7. However, it is better than a one and done which is what they had to face two weeks ago when they defeated Turk Telekom 67-61 in Bulgaria.

“It is different. You need two wins instead of three and usually the series of best-of-five in Euroleague goes with a two-two-one system. You have the first two games at home, then you go away and if it’s needed again you come back on home. But it is a series, so we go very well prepared on game one. It’s different, the environment is different, the atmosphere over there, it’s going to be a packed gym, the acustic is different, but that is what it is basketball. We want more fans to cheer or to boo you as an extra motivation, so we used the last three games of the Israeli League to also implement some of the things we want to use during that series. It’s not the same obviously, we play against the leader of the EuroCup so far in the regular season, but here we are, we are very excited.”

In their last league game, Itoudis used a very similar approach to playing against a team like Valencia who uses a very deep rotation as he went to 11-12 players at Bnei Herzliya in ordre to keep his players fresh. Will he try to match Pedro Martinez or run with a shorter rotation, that remains to be seen but he did get some ideas as to how he could play in game one of the series.

“We have a lot of talented players and we are playing with a full roster but also as to how you use those twelve players. Valencia rotates a lot and they keep them fresh and everyone delivers, we have to play that tempo. We trust the long rotation and we were able to see a pair of players who just came back from injury in Yam Madar and Marcus Foster. But also we saw that Noam Yaacov had a bunch of assists and was able to read the plays, Ish Wainright was playing a significant role but in this type of game you don’t know which guy it will be and he has to wait his chance and grab it. The players know that if it’s going to be an individual game they will have to sit down. This has to be a team game.”

There is no question that many basketball fans around Europe are looking forward to this series as both teams can be considered at the level of a Euroleague club. Valencia has been in the Euroleague at various different times over the past couple of decades and that is no doubt one of the club’s goals while Hapoel Tel Aviv want to take the next step in their development as a club. So for all intents and purposes this is a Euroleague caliber matchup.

“Definitely I can say that now getting more of deeply analysis and understanding the EuroCup I can say to my colleagues in the Euroleague that Eurocup deserves a lot more attention. It has quality, other than that, you’ve seen a lot of players that have been dominant also in the EuroCup and being dominant again in the Euroleague with their teams. I think that the EuroCup competition is also a highly quality competition that demands more attention and I do know that my colleagues do pay attention to the games, watching players, scouting players and also watching the games.”

The Hapoel Tel Aviv captain Bar Timor also looked ahead to the semifinal series against Valencia “First of all, we are very excited, very happy to reach this position. We worked very, very hard in this complex season without a home arena and with flights every week so we are really looking forward to it.”

Everyone knows that a best-of-3 series will come down to the small details and Timor is not shy to state that fact, “I think at the end of the day it might be about the little things, it’s a short series of three games, but it will be about the little things. They play a very different style, this is a team that plays very quickly and tries to dictate the pace, we have a lot to do in this regard. We will prepare, we will come as prepared as possible, we will stick to the game plan and I believe that it will work out. We want to win and get through the series. Game one might be at their home, so maybe there will be some pressure on them and that will help us a little, but it’s not critical.”

As for preparation, Timor spoke about what his team did in order to be ready for what will no doubt be their biggest test of their season, “We learned them, we also had a video training session and we saw some things. Like I said a lot earlier, they play at a very, very high pace, that will be the main key, it will be relatively controlling the pace and trying to slow them down.”