Between preparation and continuity, between expectations and worries: Maccabi Tel Aviv opens season in the Euroleague - Walla! sport

2020-10-01T09:15:03.965Z

The Yellows did not go to training camp and did not open the league, but Alba Berlin's situation is not much better. Wilbkin and Sapropoulos are quietly soaking up the system, but there is a pit in position number 4. What is holding back Studmeier's return, and what surprise does the coach intend to pull under the basket? First answers: tonight (21:05, no. 5)

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Euroleague and European basketball

Between preparation and continuity, between expectations and worries: Maccabi Tel Aviv opens a season in the Euroleague

The Yellows did not go to training camp and did not open the league, but Alba Berlin's situation is not much better.

Wilbkin and Sapropoulos are quietly soaking up the system, but there is a pit in position number 4. What is holding back Studmeier's return, and what surprise does the coach intend to pull under the basket?

First answers: tonight (21:05, no. 5)

1.

The opening of the Euroleague is always a festive event for Maccabi Tel Aviv, and when it happens at home, and against an inferior opponent, it should be a reason to party.

But tonight's game (Thursday, 21:05, live broadcast on Sport 5) against Alba Berlin will be special and different, and not just due to the fact that for the first time the team will play in the European framework without an audience.

After a decade in which it hosted only one home game in the first round, against Limoges in 2015, the Israeli champion starts in the hall, and comes as a clear favorite for its first victory.

This is not only the home, as far as it can be called in the existing conditions, but also the opponent.

Maccabi will meet Alba Berlin, although the German champions, but also one of the only teams that can not really aim for the playoffs.

We will get to the poor preparation of the Yellows for the season, and yet, it is important to note - they have to beat Alba at home in all conditions.

Alba beat Olympiacos last weekend, but the rest of its pre-season games were not good, including a narrow victory over the Bacon Bres in Berlin just two weeks ago, and an even weaker ability against Milan and Panathinaikos in the season-opening tournament.

Alba and Maccabi are among the few teams in the Euroleague that have not yet played in the local league, so the problematic opening conditions are almost the same for both.

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Tyler Dorsey and Jonas Matisk will also meet tonight.

The audience in the background will not be in the hall (Photo: Danny Maron)

Maccabi warns: "Most of the Alba players continue for a second season, including some of the foreigners, and this is not a team whose victory is in their pocket," one of the team members said yesterday.

"She has dangerous players like Marcus Erickson, Peyton Reason, Luke Sikma and also Maudo Lou and Jason Granger who have joined this season. This situation, with no home crowd, will make this game a real minefield."

Balba is aware of the balance of power.

"The situation in Israel is very strange, and we do not really know how Maccabi managed to prepare for the season in the closure," said Johannes Yemen.

"Maccabi is a very strong and high-quality team, especially with Scotty Wilbkin."

Alba fears, Europe is impressed.

Scotty Wilbkin (Photo: Danny Maron)

2.

Maccabi Tel Aviv arrives at the start of the 2020/21 season with seven qualified players who have already gained real Euroleague experience, but it is still one of the strongest teams in Europe, which has done an excellent job of retaining its key players in the current situation as well.

Since the last Euroleague game, 217 days ago, Maccabi has lost Danny Abdia (who she really had no chance of keeping), Jake Cohen, Quincy Acey, Amara Studmeier, Tariq Black, Aron Jackson, Nate Walters and Jaylen Reynolds.

The last four were injured or not really relevant;

Cohen and Acey were senior rotation players, but they are still not the most significant players at the club.

The Yellows managed to retain the really important players: not only Wilbkin and Othello Hunter, but also Elijah Bryant, Tyler Dorsey, Yuval Sussman and Angelo Cloiaro, to whom she added the added strength of Ante Žižić, two less proven foreigners In the form of Chris Jones and Dragon Bender, and Oz Blazer as an Israeli backup.

Across Europe a lot of respect is given to Wilbkin, mentioning him on the same list as the big stars on the continent, but perhaps the main weapon left in the yellow for a third season is coach Yannis Sapropoulos.

Since the departure of David Blatt in 2014, Maccabi Tel Aviv has not had a high-level coach in the Euroleague, and the results have been consistent.

With the Greek, who is in the top 5 of the coaches in the factory, the Yellows can be calm.

"Our squad two years ago was significantly less good than we have today, and Yannis almost took that squad to the playoffs," the club recalled this week. "We have no doubt that with what he has in hand today, and his abilities, he can achieve this season as well."

There is a principled summary of repetition, but the corona is inhibiting.

Amara Studmeier (Photo: Danny Maron)

3.

Compared to the encouraging staff, Maccabi Tel Aviv's preparation for the season was the worst of the Euroleague teams.

Just less than two years ago, Wilbkin accused that “our preparation for the season was the worst I have seen” in reference to the opening nightmare that led to the dismissal of Nevan Spahija;

But then the Guard referred to the lack of training as a full team.

Again, due to Bender's injuries and late arrival, Maccabi Tel Aviv did not have too much training as a full team, but the main problem is a lack of playing time.

The Yellows played only two preparatory games in Israel, when they were far from impressive in both the game against Hapoel Holon and the game against Hapoel Haifa.

Of the senior players who joined the squad, only Zizic and Blazer participated in both games, and Maccabi knows that this is likely to hurt them.

"We knew we were not going to play against the high levels, but we were expecting at least one more game, and we took into account that it was a bit. We come with almost two weeks without a game, and it is not easy."

The team was debating whether to go to a training camp in Europe ahead of the season, but decided not to do so due to the difficult conditions during the Corona season.

Maccabi is not the only team in the Euroleague that has done so.

The difference is that other teams, such as Barcelona who only played against local teams, have already started the season.

Maccabi examined the possibility of holding training matches against Hapoel Jerusalem as well, but this did not materialize in the end.

"It does not matter to the outsiders why we did such a preparation, they will want to see results," said one of the team members last week, after it became known that the game against Hapoel Haifa was canceled.

"In practice, the way you prepared for the season directly affects the first month at least. It helped us a lot last season, and we will have to deal with it this season. It is not going to be easy. By the end of November we have 11 games, and we will have to know how to accumulate wins early." .

The most important continuity in the faculty.

Yannis Sapropoulos (Photo: Sefi Magrizo, Maccabi Tel Aviv website)

4.

If in recent years Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have become accustomed to disappointments from their team, the successes in the era of Sapropolos have changed the situation.

Already at the beginning of last season, the feeling was that Maccabi must reach the playoffs with a built-up squad, after several barren years, and the team managed to meet the task impressively, with most of the season moving to the top, securing its place in the playoffs seven rounds to end the season.

And what are the realistic expectations from Maccabi Tel Aviv for the current season?

The group seems to have managed to maintain its strength in general, and may have strengthened in some places.

On the other hand, the preparation for the season may be in its infancy and the crowd push will be sorely lacking.

Therefore, the announcement of entering the playoffs as a goal, as stated by the club, sounds realistic, and is not necessarily an attempt to lower expectations and reduce pressure.

"Anyone who dares to aim for a higher goal from now on, in any team, will find himself even without the playoffs," estimates one of the system's veterans.

Watch: A new season for Fastbreak on the Maccabi Tel Aviv app

5.

Bender has managed to train several times with the team, and will be on the roster for tonight's game.

His arrival was brewing during a fairly quick move after months of searching for a replacement for Icy at the Power Forward position.

But this is not the end of the verdict: Maccabi insists that the American may return to the team, if Bender leaves at the end of three months.

Meanwhile, position number 4 is the most problematic and exposed on the roster.

Bender, Cloiaro and Blazer will fill it, and at some point the team hopes to see Omri Caspi in it as well.

The decision to bring in another player will also be related to his condition, but the club insists on being careful with him and not returning him before he is fully fit.

Another open-ended question concerns Studmeier's return - or, more precisely, the date of his return.

Talks between the parties are progressing, and there is agreement in principle, but the morbidity situation in Israel and the closure imposed by the government are delaying his return. "Amara will not come here with his son in this situation," the group said. "When things become clear, it will be much more realistic."

In the final of the championship against Rishon Lezion, Sapropoulos used an unconventional lineup, raising Hunter and Studmeier together in both face positions for many minutes, and in light of this successful attempt - and the hole in the power forward position - he may try to lift Hunter and Zizic together, at least for a few minutes.

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Source: walla

All sports articles on 2020-10-01

Between preparation and continuity, between expectations and worries: Maccabi Tel Aviv opens season in the Euroleague - Walla! sport

Between preparation and continuity, between expectations and worries: Maccabi Tel Aviv opens a season in the Euroleague

1.

Good to know (Promoted content)

Precedent step: The company that gives its policyholders a financial grant

2.

3.

4.

Watch: A new season for Fastbreak on the Maccabi Tel Aviv app

5.

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