Against a Hapoel team that has far more continuity, Maccabi took far better care of the ball, amassing 24 assists to 12 turnovers, while Hapoel committed more turnovers (16) that assists (15).
“We’re a new team and we need to build. We needed to build our confidence,” Kattash said in the press conference. “It’s the way we reacted to the losses. We used those three days of practices to work good. I felt like we were positive with the right body language. And that’s why the result is very important for us: building our confidence as a new team.”
Kattash, a Maccabi star as a player and later a coach for Hapoel, of course understood the importance of winning the derby, particularly for the fans. All the Maccabi players, new and old, knew how much it would mean. But more important is getting a feel for how good Maccabi can still be.
“Guys were coming in early to get shots, staying later to get shots. We can tell that everyone was really focused for this game, and now we’ve got to keep it rolling. That’s when we get even more confidence for next week for sure,” Brissett said after the game. ” We saw what we’re made of. So now we just got to keep it rolling. Keep it going. And keep winning for our fans back at home.”