By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
In all four EuroLeague Playoff series, the score is 2-0. Fenerbahce leads against Zalgiris, Olympiacos against Monaco, Panathinaikos against Valencia — and Real Madrid has taken a 2-0 lead over Hapoel Tel Aviv.
The Spanish side recorded another convincing home win, defeating the Israeli team 102-75 before the best-of-five series moves to Botevgrad for Game 3, and potentially Game 4.
Head coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv, Dimitris Itoudis, shared his thoughts after his team failed to match Real Madrid in the second half.
“Congratulations to Real Madrid. As for us, we have witnessed two different teams in the first and second half. In the first, we were composed, focused on the game plan, and managed to take the lead in such a close game. The third quarter cost us a lot — the second unit of Real Madrid scored 60 points. They put a lot of pressure on our ball creators, denied entry passes, and we couldn’t sustain that, offensively and defensively,” Itoudis said.
Despite two losses, Hapoel won’t give up without a fight and will look to respond on home court.
“We have proved in many cases that we can compete. We need to extend those 20 minutes to 40 minutes and stay competitive. There are still many chances out there — we are going to compete and try to win. We don’t want to be swept.”
Real Madrid is the only team in EuroLeague Playoffs history to come back from a 0-2 deficit in a series.
“I cannot describe exactly what we need to do, but we need to extend those 20 minutes — if you want to beat Real Madrid, it’s not enough. We are coming from different standpoints — not an excuse, but it’s different to have this kind of experience. Real Madrid has 11 EuroLeague trophies and dozens of other trophies, playing at home, while we are moving here and there,” Itoudis concluded.
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