By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Maccabi Tel Aviv star forward Omri Casspi revealed that he thought of ending his career at one point when he wasn’t sure that he will successfully recover from knee problems that kept him sidelined for almost a year.
“I didn’t think of retiring because it was time, but because my body just wouldn’t let me play,” Casspi said per Sports Rabbi. “Of course it was something that we spoke about with my family and team and we had to put all of the options on the table. I went to a doctor with the highest percentage success rate in the type of operation I needed and he had done it for many athletes in the United States. We all believed that if I did the correct rehabilitation, I would be able to comeback. This is just the beginning, but I feel great.”
After making his return to action in an Israeli Winner League win over, Casspi will be debut this season in EuroLeague against Crvena Zvezda Thursday (3/12). It’s a must-win battle for Maccabi that has suffered three straight losses and is now 3-8. A couple of the Israeli team’s defeat arrived in the last seconds in a quite heartbreaking fashion.
“We had a lot of bad luck at the start of this season and there is no question that the injuries and a number of important players who were in last year’s rotation haven’t played,” Casspi said. “Myself, Yovel Zoosman and John DiBartolomeo which is a quarter of the team. The ball goes to John D and Zoos a lot and I believe that there has already been a big change since the game in Valencia form these sense of energy and intensity. We lost a pair of games that you just don’t lose too many like the way we did. Whatever bad could happen – happened, a 3-pointer and foul, a corner three from a player who hadn’t scored one in months. We are hoping that with positive energy, defense and following the game plan we will start picking up the wins.”