Ibon Navarro and Jared Butler have previewed the EuroLeague matchup between Crvena Zvezda and Maccabi Tel Aviv, highlighting the challenge posed by the Israeli side and the need to stick to their defensive principles.
Ibon Navarro, Crvena Zvezda head coach
“Maccabi is a very difficult opponent to prepare for. They’re quite different from a lot of other teams. They have many versatile players. Athletically, they’re very gifted: mobile, strong and tall. Their centers have different options on offense. They can pop out after a screen, use short rolls, but also dive deep to the basket. They have wings who are good defenders but can also create offense from the perimeter. [Yam] Madar is in very good form right now, and so is [Jimmy] Clark. They play a different style of basketball from what we’re used to, so we’re expecting a very tough game. Of course, they only have two wins, but they weren’t far from beating Real Madrid or Barcelona. Valencia is a very tough opponent, and they managed to beat them. So it’s clear we’ll have a lot of problems and a big fight ahead of us. Still, we’re playing at home, in front of our fans, and I’m sure that with their support we’ll find that extra energy that will allow us to be competitive and battle against Maccabi.”
Jared Butler, Crvena Zvezda guard
“Maccabi is a good team. They run a lot of different sets and have a lot of movement and actions they use to try to confuse the opposing defense. I think our job is to stick to our principles and keep doing what we normally do. [Daniel] Theis is, of course, a very versatile big man. They also have two foreign players who are really good and can do a lot on the court. I think those three are the players we have to stop above all.”
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