With the level of pressure around the club only increasing, Maccabi Tel Aviv hosts Valencia this evening (Thursday) for the 12th round of the Euroleague and wants to register another home victory in the European framework.
The Yellows are still winless this offseason and hold a record of 5:0 away from home, but by Eliyahu they only lost to Barcelona and want to improve their home record against the guest from Spain as well.
Apart from the losses and disappointments on the floor, the yellows, who are in the balance 6:5, have experienced two particularly shaky weeks.
The position of coach Oded Ketch was shaken, Darren Hilliard was suspended and returned for tonight's game, Wade Baldwin suffered a sprain and came up to play with a bandage, and the one missing is Alex Poithers who will soon undergo surgery and will be out for several months.
Valencia has the same balance sheet as the Yellows, and is also looking at the first eight of the Euroleague from the outside.
Coach Alex Mombro had to manage without one of his most prominent players, Chris Jones, the center back who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv two years ago.
Before the game, a ceremony was held in honor of Nikola Vujic, who became the ninth former player to enter the "Legends of the Euroleague" list.
Blessings from Shimon Mizrahi, David Blatt, Sharonas Yasikvicius, Anthony Parker, Derek Sharp, Omri Caspi and Danny Avdia were screened at the ceremony.
Tonight we will also inaugurate a new screen cube in the hall at a cost of about NIS 3 million.
Returning from suspension.
Hilliard (Photo: Liron Moldovan)
the progress of the game
Quarter 1:
Maccabi Tel Aviv went up in five with Lorenzo Brown, Wade Baldwin, Bonzie Colson, Jarel Martin and Josh Niebo.
In Valencia, Bojan Dobljevic, Jaime Pradija, James Webb, Xavi Lopes Arostegi and Jared Harper came up.
Maccabi Tel Aviv missed two offensive rebounds in the first minute, but Baldwin's penetration and dunk later made it 0:2.
sport
basketball
Euroleague and European basketball
Tags
Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball
Valencia in basketball