ISRAEL: BASKETBALL - Union Olimpija and Maccabi Tel Aviv prepare for the Euroleague kick-off

Record ID: 395772

  • Title: ISRAEL: BASKETBALL - Union Olimpija and Maccabi Tel Aviv prepare for the Euroleague kick-off
  • Date: 15th October 2009
  • Summary: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (OCTOBER 14, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MACCABI TEL AVIV PLAYERS DURING PRACTICE MACCABI PLAYER D'OR FISCHER WALKING PAST CAMERA MACCABI COACH PINI GERSHON ON COURT MORE OF PRACTICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) D'OR FISCHER, MACCABI TEL AVIV PLAYER, SAYING: "Tomorrow is the start of the Euroleague season and you know, all those practice games that we playe
  • Embargoed: 30th October 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA3AJ2SPKKFXH4S6O804EQQIVXJ
  • Story Text: Israel's perennial basketball champions, Maccabi Tel Aviv prepared on Wednesday (October 14) for their opening game of the Euroleague season against Slovenia's Union Olimpija.
    Both teams held training and news conferences in Nokia Arena, Maccabi's home court, ahead of Thursday's match.
    "Tomorrow is the start of the Euroleague season and you know, all those practice games that we played up until now is, you know, should have helped us be prepared for tomorrow," said D'or Fischer, one of Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team players.
    "When you deal with a Slovenian team I guess they're always going to be very coachable, they're going to be good at passing, shooting, so you know, they're going to be a really good team," added Maccabi's small forward Chuck Eidson.
    Union Olimpija, Slovenian champions and cup holders, have not advanced past the Euroleague's first stage in the past five seasons and have never been European champions.
    Ljubljana's coach Jurij Zdovc told reporters that both teams suffer a similar problem: despite having very good players, they are not yet used to working as a team.
    "We have the same problem and in the future definitely Maccabi... we know what know what is the goals of Maccabi, they have really big ambitions and definitely have very good players but like I told you they will need some time and they will play better and better," Zdovc said.
    But Maccabi Tel Aviv's coach Pini Gershon emphasized the hopes instead of the downfalls of his team.
    "I think with our team, with our players, if they will be a good team tomorrow with the home advantage we need to win and I won't say that the gap is important. We want to win and go to the airport," he told reporters.
    Maccabi has won five Euroleague titles, latterly in 2006, and have played in the Euroleague title game four times in the last five seasons. The team has won 48 national league titles over the years, and 36 national cups.
    After their game against Ljubljana, Maccabi will fly to New York where they will hold two friendly games against the New York Knicks and the LA Clippers, returning to successive games in the domestic league before another Euroleage clash, against Tau Vitoria in Spain.
    Also in Tel Aviv, prior to the competition's opening game, Euroleague Basketball CEO Jordi Betomeu held a news conference.
    "We want to welcome this new Euroleague since July 2009, since the last general assembly when we changed the structure of the league and recreate and we make the one step forward to create the European league and what we have now, today, is a true European league when we have the best teams plus the champions of the best countries. So that is very challenging for us," he told reporters in a news conference.
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