Precisely after one of its best games this season, the impressive home victory over Partizan Belgrade last Wednesday, Maccabi Tel Aviv returned last night (Friday) to Soura with a disappointing away loss 88:86 to Panathinaikos.
It was a tight, exciting, open game, which was finally decided by none other than the ex-Yellows, Derrick Williams, who buried the winning basket with 8 seconds left
Only 48 hours separated the games, but Oded Ketch's apprentices once again presented the alarming difference between the impressive home balance 1:8, and the dismal away balance - 8:2, in a game in which they chased the weak host without success for 40 minutes, until the disappointing end.
The final result interrupted a streak of six losses for the Greeks, so it's no wonder that Oded Ketch said immediately after the game: "It's a very disappointing loss. It was a bad first half for us, and not just the percentages."
Ketch also said: "We didn't disturb them enough to play, we let them feel comfortable. We always look at the last shot, but we lost it in the first half. We weren't aggressive, we let them get into their system without harassing them.
"In the second half, we did a better job, but they had some great moves of individual ability, they made big baskets, three-pointers with the board and things like that, things you can't control. We need to be consistent for 40 minutes. We missed a big opportunity."
Baldwin.
Maccabi chased Pau without success,
As in quite a few of the away losses of the Tel Avivians this season in the factory, this time too the stuttering start of the game hurt them (only 17 points in the first quarter) and forced them to chase the opponent.
The defense that showed signs of improvement in the past weeks also returned to the grind and conceded 88 points.
Bonzie Colson, who was one of the few bright spots in the game, broke his Euroleague career high for the second time this week and put him at 29 points.
At the end of the game he shared his feelings: "A difficult and disappointing loss for us. I think we fought all the way but we were not able to get the stops we needed in defense. We need to learn from this, improve and move on."
Coulson.
Maccabi's bright spot, photo: Panathinaikos, official website
The club tried to explain the appearance of the team's star Lorenzo Brown, who recorded a lukewarm game personally with only 11 points and seemed a little off.
"Nothing has happened to Lorenzo, he is allowed to have less good games, he gets the best keepers, the attention and the help. That's fine. We could have won even with his less good day," Ketch shared at the end.
Now the Yellows will return to Israel and begin preparations for the intriguing game on Monday as part of the quarterfinals of the State Cup, when they will host the cup holder Bnei Herzliya at the Menorah Mittehim Hall, after losing to them in the league just a few weeks ago.
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