Oded Kattash, the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, spoke to the media ahead of the Game 5 of the EuroLeague quarterfinal series against Panathinaikos.
“The pride of Israel” had a match point on their “home” court in the fourth game of this series. However, Panathinaikos, led by the brilliant Kendrick Nunn and with excellent play in the second half, managed to equalize and bring the series back to Athens. Never before has a visiting team won a decisive game in the EuroLeague playoffs, and the team from Tel Aviv will do everything in their power to break that streak.
“Of course, we believe, we have to believe. We won there twice, in the playoffs and the regular season, and we’ll try to do it again. We’ve been in the EuroLeague long enough to know that there’s a reason why home teams win decisive games, especially in an atmosphere like the one there will be. We’ll have to stick together. From day one, we’ve been saying we should be proud of what we do. We’ll play our basketball with a lot of confidence.
Of course, we would like everyone to be healthy and in the best possible condition. We’ll wait for Wade Baldwin’s final check-up and decide whether he’ll play before the match. John DiBartolomeo is okay, he’ll play. We enter every game with a certain pressure, but also excitement. That pressure needs to be channeled in the right way. We have experienced players who have been through similar situations. The atmosphere will be crazy, but we’re ready to play there and enjoy,” said Oded Kattash.
The decisive game between Panathinaikos and Maccabi Tel Aviv will be played in Athens on Tuesday, starting at 20:15.