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A rookie still aiming for the Final Four
 I want to start off by taking this opportunity to wish all my friends, family and, of course, Maccabi fans happy holidays for this Passover, the Jewish festival of freedom. It's a little tough for me that on a night when the whole family gets together to celebrate and eat the festive meal, I won't be there. But if I have to celebrate from overseas, at least it's for a good cause: Basketball.
Like always, things are fun and interesting around here. That's the life of a pro basketball player. It started as an afternoon activity and turned into a full-time career. On Tuesday, we begin our Quarterfinal Playoffs series against CSKA Moscow, which as everyone knows is one of the best teams in Europe. CSKA's results this season prove that it is a dominant and well-organized team, with a wonderful coach and great players. Some say that Maccabi comes to this series as an underdog, but for me that's a hard word to say. Hey, we're Maccabi Tel Aviv. And that says a lot not only in Israel, but also in Europe. Okay, CSKA may have the homecourt advantage and that may be very meaningful – because they have not lost at home this season in the Euroleague – but I know that we are a much better and higher-quality team than we've shown so far. We have great players, a fine coaching staff and a team manager with the biggest heart, Moni Fanan, who helps us with everything, whether it be in our professional or private lives. I really hope that everything comes together for us at such a crucial time in the season and that we can upgrade our ability before facing CSKA.
I played for three years for an Israeli club called Hapoel Galil Elyon – a distance of two-and-a-half hours from my parents home. And trust me, in Israel, that's a lot. I left home at age 18 for basketball. This past week, we lost two away games in the Israeli League – to my former team, Galil Elyon, and to Hapoel Jerusalem, which reached the quarterfinals of the ULEB Cup. We lost both of these games by 1 point. To lose two games in one week by a point, even if they are considered tough games, is very frustrating. But I must admit that I was very excited to return to Galil Elyon and to play against the team that I began my career with and played for until I joined Maccabi.
To play for Maccabi Tel Aviv is the dream of every Israeli basketball player. In Israel, we call Maccabi "Israel's team," because the whole country actively follows every game and supports the tem like crazy, especially in the Euroleague. At our Euroleague home games, at Nokia Arena, 11,000 fans always pack the stands and it feels like if there were 20,000 seats, they'd all be full, too. For a player, it's unreal fun to get a chance to play in front of such a big and happy crowd. I moved back into my parents home this year – don't forget that I'm only 21. The support of my close family – my mom, dad and two brothers – helps me a lot. This is my first season playing in the Euroleague and at first I didn't know what to expect. I always used to watch games from the best league in Europe on the television, and now I'm a part of it. My test by fire went real well. We're among the best eight teams in the Euroleague and we hope to continue until the Final Four in Athens, in spite of the difficult series coming up against CSKA. I found my place on the team easily and almost naturally. I've gotten a lot of support and help from Maccabi players. I especially want to single out the legendary Nikola Vujcic, who has guided me and taught me so much along the way. He's a true professional, an amazing player and a great friend.
Until next time, happy holidays to everyone and wishing you all success, health and lots of love.
POSTED BY
Lior Eliyahu - Tel Aviv
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