By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Unics Kazan center Alex Tyus expressed his frustration with how he parted ways with Maccabi Tel Aviv before signing with the Russian club.
In an interview with Israeli website Walla, Tyus, a former EuroLeague champion in 2014 with Maccabi, explained how he wanted to stay in the club but the management didn’t show enough that they were in the same page.
Here’s what Tyus said on the matter:
“At the beginning of the season, around December, my agent contacted me and said that Maccabi has made a good offer to extend my contract. I was happy. I was sure we were pretty close and I would sign even before the season was over. We told Maccabi that I wanted to finish my career here, but the season went on and on and they started to get away and play games. Suddenly, they talked about a contract for one season and didn’t mention a number when the salary issue came up. They said they didn’t know what the rules will be in the league and they had to check about the money. They knew all along what I wanted. I know Maccabi. When they want someone they know what to do”.
“When I received the offer from Kazan, I turned to the management to give them an opportunity to improve the offer or at least match it. They simply congratulated me and said ‘ You got a good deal. It’s their decision. They didn’t do enough to keep me going. They didn’t show that they cared. I know how their heads work and when they arrive at negotiations, they think like it’s only business. There’s no emotion, so many players come and go and cant’ stay for long.”
It has also to be noted that Tyus believes that coach Giannis Sfairopoulos changed things when he arrived, but now the American-Israeli player will not have the chance to benefit from this change: “Since the coaching change, the team also changed completely. Under coach Giannis Sfairopoulos, we were a playoff team in all respects … Unfortunately, we started way too late: Spahija’s players lost confidence, were not motivated, and things went to a really bad place. We could have gotten into a situation where we would win seven or eight games all season, but Giannis changed the team, he brought a different level of energy, put the structure, his method and his tactics in. With a change or two, we’ll definitely reach the playoffs next season, but that’s not what the management is doing”.
Tyus, the only player in the 2018-2019 Maccabi squad that was a member of the 2014 EuroLeague championship team, said that despite everything that transpired, he’d still like to finish his career with the “Yellows.”
“I’m hoping that Maccabi and I will try to talk again in the future, and maybe I’ll come back to finish my career in Tel Aviv.”