By Nikola Miloradovic / info@eurohoops.net
Hapoel Tel Aviv saw its historic first EuroLeague season come to an end after a 3-1 Playoff defeat to Real Madrid.
Despite the elimination, after Game 4 defeat head coach Dimitris Itoudis chose to focus on everything his team managed to overcome during an extraordinary campaign marked by constant uncertainty and venue changes.
Still, Itoudis made it clear after the series that pride outweighed disappointment.
“First of all, congratulations to Real Madrid for qualifying to the Final Four. They were the better team in this series and they deserved it. But I want to speak about our side and keep the positive things from this season, because there are many. The way we built the team during the summer, and with all the circumstances, it proved that something good is happening in Hapoel Tel Aviv’s basketball department,” Itoudis said.
The Greek coach praised his players for navigating one of the toughest possible environments for a debut EuroLeague season.
“We brought in talented players, some with more experience, some with less. We went through difficulties without even knowing where we were going to play. Still, for more than four months we stayed among the leading teams in the standings. We never lost our Playoff spot and we managed to secure another EuroLeague season without being shareholders, without a wildcard and without guarantees.”
According to Itoudis, the season left valuable lessons for the future of the club.
“This team in Europe accomplished many things. Of course, there is a bitter taste because we couldn’t go all the way, but that’s another lesson. We don’t play alone. There are many competitive, experienced and well-built teams. At least 10 or 11 teams finished below us and couldn’t even reach the Playoffs, so we are proud of that.”
He also thanked the ownership, fans and Bulgarian hosts for helping the club survive an extremely turbulent campaign.
“We hope peace will prevail so we can play in Tel Aviv again. That is our wish. I also want to thank all our Bulgarian friends who made this possible for us — twice, actually, because we came back and then had to come back again. All these experiences are lessons for us to become smarter and stronger.”
Despite the Playoff elimination, Itoudis emphasized that the season is far from over for Hapoel, with the Israeli championship now becoming the main objective.
“The journey has to continue because we still have a very important mission — the championship. We have to gather our pieces, concentrate again and fight for the title. That’s something our fans and our organization want to bring to Hapoel Tel Aviv.”
The veteran coach also analyzed the series itself and admitted Real Madrid’s experience eventually made the difference.
“I think in Game 1 we were a little late making adjustments and reacting to Real Madrid’s strengths — their size, post game, transition game, full-court pressure and experience. But as the series progressed, our adjustments became better and better. We improved, especially in Games 3 and 4. We had our chances and we kept fighting, which makes us proud. But against a team like Real Madrid, that’s not enough. Maybe we could have had a better start to the series and done a better job of taking them out of their comfort zone, but we didn’t manage to do that consistently enough.”