Summary: Barcelona - Real Madrid 78:87 (Sport1)
"What a crazy Euroleague this year, huh? Everyone beats everyone else", is the motto that accompanies every season since the transition to the league system.
Even in past years, unexpected losses of the leaders and momentary victories of the bottom teams were part of the menu, almost on a weekly basis;
Therefore, what has been happening in the last few weeks should not really be surprising, and on the face of it, it seems that it is not without precedent as people tend to think every year.
But the feeling is that this season is exaggerated compared to its predecessors, and the numbers back it up.
What's happening in 2023 across Europe - really hasn't happened before: tonight (Friday), when the first round ends and the Euroleague reaches the halfway line, there will be between three and five teams that will share the best record.
Each and every one of them will have six losses, which is a number that in previous years was only enough for fourth place.
Since the factory switched to the league system, in the 2016/17 season, there have always been three teams with five losses or less at the end of 17 rounds;
In half of the cases it happened after one round, and previously after 56% of the rounds (when there were only 16 female participants).
The most equal season in the Euroleague (photo: official website, Zalgiris Kovna)
Like everything that happens in European sports in the last year, the situation can and should be attributed to the war in Ukraine and the removal of the Russian teams.
The impact was felt first and foremost in the secondary cups, and especially the Eurocup, when the entire top team was jumped to the Euroleague at once, leaving the factory gray and devoid of luster.
The direct effect on the senior enterprise is felt in the simple fact that there is no one group above the rest;
This is due both to the absence of CSKA Moscow (which in four of the previous six seasons had a record of 4:13 or 3:14), and also to objective reasons that make the league more equal than ever - the surprising rise of Basconia that was not counted in advance, through significant injuries (Barcelona , Fenerbahçe and Anadolu Efes) and personal changes that require reorganization (Real Madrid and again Fenerbahçe), to the fall of favorites (Olympia Milan).
The swing reached its peak yesterday: four teams from among the top six showed up for the 17th round games, and all of them lost to opponents from the lower half of the table.
The poorest is actually the one who won yesterday, Elba Berlin, who has five wins - and unlike in the past, it's not even enough for her to get out of last place.
This is also a fact that did not happen in previous seasons, and which illustrates the equality of 2023.
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Get into the basket, then go tackle.
Scotty Wilbkin under Eddie Tavares last season (photo: Danny Maron)
Maccabi Tel Aviv will take to the floor at Viznik Center at 21:45, and we hope that the quota of surprises for one weekend has not yet been exhausted.
13 years have passed since their last away win over Real Madrid, and their losing streak in the Spanish capital stands at 13 (three of them last season).
The last time she beat the Blancos on their court, 64:66 in the Top 16 of 2010, Pini Gershon coached her, Raviv Limond played in her ranks - and only one thing did not change: the leading scorer of the hosts was Sergio Yui.
Naturally, the main part of the preparation for Real deals with one man who is 2.21 m tall, his arm span reaches 240 cm and his shoe size is 54. In a "normal" style, it is impossible to beat him, so most coaches prefer to place in front of Eddie Tavares a center who will not be afraid to throw from the outside and kept him away from the basket. Zeljko Oberdovic made it worse, during Partizan Belgrade's visit to Madrid he decided to give up almost completely the best player in his team, Matthias Lessor, and place him almost exclusively against the second unit, the quintet of substitutes, led by Vincent Poirier; as long as Tavares was on the floor , Zach Lydey moved to this position, shot 4 of 6 for three, and the Serbs were not far from a surprise (105:97).
Obradovic had this luxury, but Andrea Trinchieri followed a similar method - although at first it seemed that he did not have the appropriate tools for it.
As long as Othello Hunter got out of his way and scored from beyond the arc, Bayern Munich faced victory.
At one point he was 4 of 5, and finally finished with 4 of 8 and the Bavarians lost at home 68:64, with a low score and completely different from the one recorded between Real and Partizan.
By the way, Hunter threw only seven three-pointers over two whole seasons at Maccabi (and missed them all), and until his arrival in Munich he recorded 1 of 15 over eight years and 216 appearances.
At Bayern, he is currently making 20 three-pointers from 47 attempts, a rather incredible percentage of 42.5, and the meeting with the Blancos was the peak of records for him.
4 from 8 to three?
I am?!
The new Othello Hunter (Photo: Reuters)
So who can do the job at Maccabi?
Seemingly, if there is a night when she will regret not bringing in an interior player with shooting in place of Alex Poithers, then this is the night.
Jerrell Martin can certainly do it (9-for-19 from three in the last four games), but with the exception of his team at center alongside Bonzie Colson, no lineup can really keep Tavares away from the ring.
If he plays alongside Roman Sorkin, Jake Cohen and certainly Josh Nieveau, Chos Mathieu will be able to stick his huge chin to the extra height.
In light of all this, Oded Ketch may have to keep his familiar sets.
Maccabi Tel Aviv's advantage should be reflected in the back line, and it can challenge the Spaniards in the three-guard formation that defeated Anadolu Efes, and also try three-high formations from time to time (with Martin or Coulson in the small forward position).
Nivo will surely come on absorption alert.
Not sure he is aware of it;
In his only meeting with Tavares and Real, last year in Kovna (47:68 to Zalgiris), he actually finished with ten points and nine rebounds, but hit 2 of 9 from the field.
The American center even dared to throw his only 3-pointer so far in 44 Euroleague games.
sport
basketball
Euroleague and European basketball
Tags
Real Madrid in basketball
Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball
Euroleague