Summary clip of the week in sports, 9.2 (Sport 1)
1.
It was supposed to be Lorenzo Brown's night, but the Maccabi Tel Aviv locker room at the Menorah Hall was not as quiet and overwhelmed this season as it was last night (Thursday) at the end of the Yellows' 89:86 loss to the Red Star Belgrade, a loss that greatly complicated Maccabi in the fight for entry to the playoffs, and was only the second in 11 home games.
The Maccabi people were also shocked because the feeling in the air was festive, with the extension of Lorenzo Brown's contract, with the improvement in the situation with the victory over Valencia away last week, and with a trophy just around the corner.
Everything was ready for a victory to join the celebration.
They were disappointed because they know that Red Star is currently close to them, and although there are quite a few comfortable games left until the end of the season, but in order to make the playoffs they will have to know how to beat opponents that are above them in the table.
"It was simply a loss not in the right place and not at the right time," said one of the group's members upon leaving Menorah Hall near midnight.
The crowd didn't like the loss either, and while the Red Star escaped to a 16-point lead, and beat Maccabi in the offensive rebound in a rather extreme way, they reacted with boos.
He stood at the end to thank the players for the war that almost led to victory, but only almost.
"The Red Star was the tougher team tonight, they controlled the rebound and the paint for 35 minutes or 34 minutes. Our engine in the last 6 minutes - that's how we should have played the whole game," concluded Wade Baldwin, who scored 38 points, a new record for points for a player in the EuroLeague. "We're fighting for the playoffs, it's a tough loss. I'm happy that our desire to win the game came, to come back from 16 down, several times... I'm happy that we found the way to fight until the end. It was decided from the penalty line, and they scored."
Captain John DiBartholomew added: "They played better than us for most of the time, we tried to come back and it wasn't enough. In Euroleague games it's not enough to play well for 5-10 minutes. You have to play much better for 40 minutes, it's a bad loss because they beat us in points of effort and rebounds".
Maccabi, who played without Lorenzo Brown who has not yet returned from injury, received a disappointing game from many key players.
Jarel Martin returned from illness and did not score in 17 minutes, Josh Nieveau did not take a single rebound the entire game (!) and scored only 2 points, and DiBartholomew also finished with only 2 points.
Too bad.
Baldwin (Photo: Danny Maron)
2.
It was supposed to be Lorenzo Brown's day.
In the early afternoon, Maccabi announced the contract extension for its American star, who was supposed to take a fitness test, get dressed, and play the first few minutes after three weeks off the field.
Everywhere they analyzed and celebrated Brown's new contract, and everywhere they waited for the show.
But most Maccabi people knew that even if Brown dressed for the game, he would not be able to contribute what they expected from him.
In the end, he did not pass the fitness test, was in pain, and did not dress for the game.
In Maccabi, part of the loss was due to the fact that Brown did not play, other players did not excel, except for Wade Baldwin, and he was missing a very significant part in the team's game.
Currently it is not clear whether Maccabi will choose to dress Brown for the semi-finals of the State Cup against Nes Ziona City, and the decision will be made after the weekend during which he will continue to receive treatments and try to train.
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Disappointment for 35 minutes.
Maccabi (Photo: Danny Maron)
3.
It was supposed to be Lorenzo Brown's night, but it ended up being Wade Baldwin's night.
Over 20 years of Euroleague, and the history books of Maccabi Tel Aviv will no longer have the name of Saronas Jasikvicius as the player who scored the most points in one game in the yellow ranks, a memory of that amazing performance in which the Lithuanian rained 37 points.
Scotty Wilbkin, who joined him last season, is also gone.
Wade Baldwin did his 38 points not in style, going 5-for-9 on 2-pointers, 6 three-pointers (personal best) from 10 attempts and 10 free throws (personal best) from 15 attempts.
He was the man who kept Maccabi in the picture even when things really didn't go their way, and almost carried them to victory at the end.
"If I had scored a few more free throws we would have won the game. I made the right moves to bring the team back, I gave everything to come away with the victory, it's a shame it wasn't enough," Baldwin said at the end.
John DiBartholomeo supported him and said: "He is one of our leaders, he had a good day, he was hot, he tried to produce as much as possible, offensively he kept us in the game, the problem was also the defense."
"It's hard to cool him down."
Nadovich (Photo: Danny Maron)
4.
It was supposed to be Lorenzo Braun's night, but it was once again a celebration of Namani Nadovich at the Menorah Hall.
If Maccabi Tel Aviv understood how they arranged the stars, maybe they would have behaved differently.
On the occasion of the signing of Lorenzo Brown until the 2026 season, Maccabi announced a special sale and the sale of Brown's shirts at a 26 percent discount.
The symbolism?
Number 26 in Red Star Belgrade, Nemaniye Nadovic scored 28 points against Maccabi, ruining a perfect story.
Nadovich at Maccabi Tel Aviv will not be forgotten because of this evening either, but mainly because of the crazy game he recorded in December 2020 in the uniform of Panathinaikos, when he scored 39 points, and the Greeks lost to Maccabi.
This time, too, he was hot from the start, scoring some impossible three-pointers, but in money time he left the stage to Luca Vildoza, who finished the game from the free throw, and Unin Dovric and Luka Mitrovic in an outstanding performance with 13 and 14 points respectively.
"Nandovic is a very talented scorer, he scored two big three-pointers at the beginning and it's hard to cool him down," Baldwin complimented Landovic, while DiBartholomeo added: "He's a very talented player, he enters the game early, and I don't know what's in this hall, but he's a very good player who is difficult stop him."
Nadovich was a candidate in the past, back when he reached the NBA, to join Maccabi Tel Aviv, but in recent years, after he had already scorched the nets at Menorah Hall, his name did not come up as a realistic option.
"He likes this hall so much, we should think about it," admitted one of the Maccabi people at the end.
Recover, and quickly.
Ketch (Photo: Danny Maron)
5.
This was supposed to be Lorenzo Brown's night, but maybe next week will be his week.
Maccabi Tel Aviv already has the Winner's Cup this season, but if it stays only with him, it will turn from a nice title, to one that no one will want to remember.
On Monday, the Yellows will meet Eruni Nes Ziona at the Arena in Jerusalem.
From a professional point of view, Maccabi wants to forget about last night's game, and move on to an opponent they last met four months ago.
Ness Ziona has looked different since then, including Maccabi, so it is difficult to assess the balance of power.
"It is not new for us that we have a game every few days, we know how to put games behind us, starting tomorrow we will prepare for the cup, we will have to overcome it, we will not forget it, but all our energy and attention to details will be for the next game in the cup," said DiBartolomeo who wants to return to swing Cup after a year of break.
The estimates among Maccabi Tel Aviv people that only a thousand fans will come to support them in the semi-finals due to the early time, 18:00, the fact that some people will prefer to save a trip to Jerusalem for the final match on Thursday, if and when they get there, and the football match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Netanya that will be held Later that day in Netanya.
sport
basketball
Euroleague and European basketball
Tags
Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball
Lorenzo Brown
Wade Baldwin
