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By: Sam Meyerkopf / @euro_adventures

After Maccabi Electra just missed a chance at giving Barcelona their first home loss of the season, Head Coach David Blatt talked about the loss, what Maccabi is looking to do heading into the Playoffs, and what his brand new, two-year contract extension means to him.

Euroleague Adventures: You guys turned over Barcelona 18 times today and yet still couldn’t pull out the victory.  What else would you need to do to beat this team?

David Blatt:  Well without a doubt the overwhelming statistic in the game is that we were out-rebounded 44 to 30, including four offensive rebounds after four stops in the last two minutes. I mean, that in a nutshell is the game. We did enough to stay in that game and in the end perhaps to steal it but we didn’t finish the job.  We got stops and we gave it away by not finishing the job with the rebounds.

ELA: As you move into the Playoffs what does the team need to keep working on?

DB: I think the big thing for us is to get healthy.  You know we played today without three of our main players, were in a very challenging season with three different leagues, a lot of games, and a lot of  wear and tear on the players and organization and at a certain point you have periods where you dip.  We got to hope that the period when we play the Final Eight is when we’re going back up.  We don’t want any kind of drop due to physical problems or mental fatigue, so we can come into the series in the best possible way, and that’s going to be our problem in the next few weeks.

ELA: You just got a contract extension, does job security like that help you coach better or do you not really think about that during the season?

DB: It was not something that I was thinking about in terms of being worried and fearful. I’ve been lucky to be part of the organization for a many years and my experience with the organization is that if you’re doing the right things and you are loyal to the values and the vision of the club, and you help bring results, then your position in the team is relatively safe. So it’s not something I was worried about but it’s something I’m very happy about because Maccabi is the one club I wanted to be in and I didn’t think about being anywhere else.  And I’m very, very happy that it’s come to fruition but I think those are the kinds of things that you don’t get satisfied because you get a contract.  You feel responsible and you feel challenged by the fact that you have to justify it.   And that’s sort of how I feel.  I’m in business with great people, so I’ll get plenty of help.