Tel Aviv coach Kattash has ‘a lot of respect’ for Monaco

Oded Kattash (coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, eliminated by Monaco in the quarter-finals of the Euroleague): “First of all, I want to congratulate Monaco who qualified for the final 4. We were there, until the end. It was not easy for us. So it was not easy for them, I’m sure. We have a lot of respect for this Monaco team. We knew that this meeting would be very different from the one we played in matches 1 and 4 (that Tel Aviv won, editor’s note). We knew that Monaco would be very aggressive. The match was played at a high tempo. During the first period, the level was very high. We made adjustments to Mike James at halftime. We were better in the second half, we had control. But Monaco have three top backs (James, Okobo and Loyd, editor’s note). We also made two or three mistakes due to too much motivation. We must also learn to control our energy on the rebound, where we were not dominant. But I’m proud of the players. I hope that this match, this Euroleague season, will serve us in the future. I hope we will come back stronger next season.»