Over the last two years during basketball season, adventurous Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Pini Gershon could be found in the Alaskan tundra, on safari in Africa, or at least planning his next trip to some similarly remote place. As he told Euroleague.net in an extensive Final Four interview, a return to coaching was not on his mind. "I wasn't waiting to start my career again," Gershon said. "I was enjoying retirement and having fun. I went all over the world putting my Xs on the map." Next week, Gershon wants to mark his X closer to home, in Tel Aviv, in the form of victory for Maccabi in the 2004 Final Four. The chance to bring more basketball success to a country full of Maccabi fans is the reason that Gershon came out of retirement. "It was the only reason," Gershon said. "It was the challenge that attracted me."