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Repeat For Ramla - The Quotes
Safsal
,05/02/2008 |
Eli Rabi: "We didn’t spend one round at the top of the standings all season but it’s only important to be first in the money time."
Shiki Falach: "I’m glad Raanana Hertzeliya is once again a major force in women’s basketball".
Michelle Snow, Finals MVP: "We’ve only been together for like two months, that’s a hell of an accomplishment."
Ornit Shwartz: "Nobody believed we’d even make it this far. We believed in ourselves from day 1 and because we believed so much, this hurts so bad”.
All that and more - inside!
Photos by: Motti Klinger
Eli Rabi
On the championship
“It was an unforgettable experience, packed gym, aggressive game, not at the highest lever but very aggressive and physical, every coach and player dreams of these moments. Our ego was wounded at the beginning of the season and we had our difficulties. We had a great season, if Jackie [Johnson] hadn’t gotten hurt we would have taken the Europe Cup. We didn’t spend one round at the top of the standings all season but it’s only important to be first in the money time. Our sponsor is called multi-lock and today you saw we have the best defense in the league, that defense won us the championship. We were determined, we knew offensively we might have some trouble but we stepped up on defense, the girls played heroic defense with one block after another, we just refused to give up”.
On Raanana Hertzeliya
“I want to give Raanana Hertzeliya some props for their season. They’ve been pushed away since we won the title and I do think we deserve it and all, but Raanana Hertzeliya deserves a lot of credit for their entire season. Even though we’re the ones who beat them in the cup and playoffs, they’ve beaten everybody else and did it very well and they all deserve credit; the players, the management, Shiki, his assistant.
Shiki Falach
“The game didn’t get away from us, it was a 6-4-2 points game, but eventually we ran out of air. Our players deserve a lot of credit for this accomplishment, nobody even imagined us making it to the championship series, nothing but complements to the players. I’m glad Raanana Hertzeliya is once again a major force in women’s basketball and I hope it will continue. We were up 1-0 and we started to realize we’re closer than ever, and it really stressed us out and hurt our offensive flow. We had so many turnovers, our players don’t usually hand out gifts like that. Our game wasn’t flowing, we played too fast, I look at it like we paid our tuition and we’ll see the rewards down the road”.
Noa Rikanati
“It’s a wonderful feeling, really unbelievable because we did it against all odds. We won the cup, make the Eurocup semi finals and now the championship, we achieved all of our goals despite going through so many changes and that’s the story of this championship. We have great chemistry and an amazing group of girls. They keep playing miraculous basketball, I admire them”.
Michelle Snow, Finals MVP
“We were not going to lose, we said we don’t want to go back to their home for game 5, they’re very tough to beat there and we needed to take advantage of being home with our fans. Honestly we played with a lot of heart today, we played hard and with our defense, even when someone messes up there’s always someone else back there and it’s very tough to beat a team that has each other’s back.
We’ve only been together for like two months and still found a way to win, that’s a hell of an accomplishment. Raanana Hertzeliya is a great team, strong, aggressive and physical, you have to come ready to play them. You have to give them a lot of credit but we played with everything we had.”
Laine Selwyn
On the series and season overall
“It feels really good, because we've been through a lot. We've been through a lot of new players and adversity, and it's hard to jell as a team when you have a lot of stuff on the outside going on. But we stayed together and we won when it really counts. We lost some tough games and to win when it counts at the end, to come together, it shows a lot about this team. We knew we get to come back to our house and we have the support of our fans and we really wanted it bad, we really did, and it showed on the court. We were stuck on offense a lot tonight and it was our defense, our steals, our heart, our intensity, it really picks us up. Defense, that’s our game.
On how this season compares to the last one
“It was a lot harder this year. You know last year there was a lot more pressure because we were the favorites to win but this year it was like, you never knew who was gonna win. We started coming together at the right time but you never knew what was gonna happen. Every game was close until a certain part, and you know, sweet. “
Shay Doron
“Luckily for us it all finally came together at the end. I told my teammates before the game: ‘I don’t care if I don’t score at all tonight as long as we win the championship’. It’s an amazing feeling, the best feeling in the world. To win like this, it’s sweet. It’s something else. Like Eli said, this year this championship can’t be taken for granted. We were in a good momentum, they’re a very good team but we really came into the playoffs riding a good momentum, we came together and we did it”.
Jackie Johnson
I felt great today, no pain. I lost the championship twice in Israel, with Raanana & Ramla, and I didn’t want it to happen again. I’m excited, it’s been a great season we have a great group of girls, we were the best team this season no doubt. They're a good team, I knew it was gonna be close but I had full confidence that we would pull it out and win. We came here to win, period, that's it. Our defense is key, and once everybody buys into playing defense hard no one can beat us, we're very tough to beat.”
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Ornit Shwartz
On Ramla’s decisive 4th quarter run
“I think it was the same story in the last 3 games, even though today they didn’t blitz us for one quarter. We just missed good looks, maybe a lack of experience but it’s much more than that. Dumb turnovers, I think I have a very big part in today’s stupid mistakes, refs getting involved a little too much, those kind of stuff take away your championship. There’s nothing to do about it, you have to learn from it. Overall I think we had a great season, nobody believed we’d even make it this far. We believed in ourselves from day 1 and because we believed so much, this hurts so bad”.
Mistie Williams
On the offense in the last 3 games
“A lot of our offense has to do with our defense and you know, I knew from the beginning, that if we were to play Ramla it was gonna be rough cause they're hard to match up with us. We're more of an inside-outside team, and they've got a lot of very talented guards and that's tough to stop. Their guards can pass phenomenally. They're a very tough team to guard, especially with the changes that they made towards the end of the season”.
On the season overall
“I came to Israeli with no expectations. I had no clue we were gonna be remotely as good as we ended up being, to tell you the truth. I was coming from a team in Italy where we were in the play-out, we were the last team in the league. So to come to Israel and to have the season that we had, for me I feel like it's an accomplishment but to get this close, it's rough. I think a lot of people say that foreigners don’t care about Championships and stuff, but this one burns, this one burns just as bad as the one that I lost when I was in college”.
Tanisha Wright
On Ramla’s decisive 4th quarter run
“It happens. It's part of sports, part of the game. Unfortunately for us it happened three times in a row, but what can you do about it, hat's off to Ramla. We always look to win, but down the stretch we got tired mentally and started making mistakes, and they capitalized on it. They scored on our mistakes, they got stops, they did a lot of things to help themselves win. It’s just disappointing”.
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