Coach says he will be disappointed if his team doesn't claim BSL championship; team faces Maccabi Tel Aviv in Final Four semis.
By ALLON SINAIBnei Hasharon 224.88(photo credit: Courtesy)
Bnei Hasharon coach Effi Birenboim said Sunday he will be very disappointed if his team doesn't claim the BSL championship.
Birenboim's team, which finished the regular season in third position, faces Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Final Four semifinals on Tuesday and will be looking to beat the perennial champion for the fourth time this season.
"We don't take for granted the fact that we're playing in the Final Four for a second straight year," Birenboim said in a press conference at the Nokia Arena.
"We hope to enjoy the moment, but we are also here to win. We plan to play at our very best in the Final Four. I will be very disappointed if we don't win the championship."
In the first of Tuesday's semis, Hapoel Holon, which finished the regular season in first place, plays Ironi Nahariya, which sneaked into the season ending tournament thanks to its six victories in the final seven games of the season.
"Holon hasn't reached these heights in many years and we're very happy to be among the top four," Holon coach and owner Miki Dorsman said.
"We've been through a very tough season and we're very happy that we eventually succeeded. We have a very tough semifinal against Nahariya.
The man under the most pressure ahead of Tuesday's games is Maccabi coach Tzvika Sherf. Despite the success in the Euroleague, Sherf is still waiting to hear if he will continue next season and knows that a failure to claim the league title will surely mean he has coached his last game at Maccabi.
Sherf refused to speak about his own future on Sunday and said that he is fully focused on this week's games. "Maccabi will make all the needed preparations in the next couple of days so that it enters the Final Four in the best possible state," Sherf said.
"We have a very tough semifinal game and we must first deal with that. Everyone will see a good and determined Maccabi in the Final Four."
Maccabi, which has won 37 of the last 38 championships, lost a record nine games during the regular season, but captain Derrick Sharp was confident on Sunday that his side will not be affected by that fact.
"It doesn't matter to us that we lost so many games in the league," Sharp said.
"It doesn't matter in the Final Four how many games you lost in the regular season before your semifinal game. I think every team here feels that it's entering the Final Four as the favorite."
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