1.
Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Panathinaikos 73:77 tonight (Thursday) and returned to a positive balance of 2: 3 in the Euroleague.
The team in green that dribbled on the parquet at Menora Mivtachim Hall is a pale and faded version of an empire that until a few years ago was one of the largest and most important teams in European basketball.
No attack and no defense, everything is accidental and uncoordinated, and there is no trace of the trained and oiled team from the past.
No one there can explain how Oded Katash was given up for Dimitris Priptis.
After wondering about the opponent's weakness, it is also possible to compliment the team in yellow.
Last week Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Wheelerban thanks to the attack, and this time it did so mainly by a good defense that stopped the Greeks on 23 points in the second half and 40 in three quarters. And especially being stable for 40 minutes, they will also be able to beat better teams than Pao.
And speaking of stability, the final quarter should worry the Yellows' professional team.
Maccabi Tel Aviv led by a double-digit difference in most stages of the game and at the beginning of the fourth quarter its advantage was 15 points, but a collapse in the last quarter and undefeated loss of the ball brought the Greeks back to 2 (!) In the last half minute. A better team than Panathinaikos could "Steal" victory.
2.
Maccabi Tel Aviv also got back Ante Žižić who was injured before the start of the season and played his first game in 2021/22. The Croatian chin scored six points in less than 10 minutes and showed how much he can help the Yellows, at least Offensively.
Jizic hovering, Photo: Alan Schieber,
Another player who was not bad at all and probably should get a lot more opportunities is Roman Sorkin.
The young Israeli got 15 minutes and returned big with 9 points and 6 rebounds.
One can certainly understand why he is on the roster, while Jake Cohen and Oz Blazer have not signed up for the game.
The big difference, at least on paper, between last season's Maccabi Tel Aviv and this season's is James Nanley. Last season last night when Scotty Wilbkin was not at his best, the Yellows had almost no way to win. This season they have the excellent Nanley who finished with 18 Points (25 index points), and Haifa on the star's average day (3 from 9 to 3).
The
game against Panathinaikos opened a crazy streak of four games for Maccabi Tel Aviv in eight days. On Saturday it will meet Hapoel Jerusalem in the most prestigious game in Israeli basketball and then it will face two Euroleague games within 48 hours - Zalgiris Kaunas (Tuesday) and Barcelona ( Fifth).
Photo: Alan Shiver,
Photo: Alan Shiver,
Photo: Alan Shiver,
Photo: Alan Shiver,
Photo: Alan Shiver,
Scotty Wilbkin, Photography: Alan Schieber, Photography: Alan Schieber
