Eurocup summary: Hapoel Tel Aviv - Hamburg Towers 85:91 (Sport 1)
1. The humor that Keche exudes towards midnight when he was asked more and more questions at the press conference last night (Thursday) that concluded the great victory of Maccabi Tel Aviv over Basconia 79:93, can easily teach about the mood in the team.
Five rounds to the end of the season, Maccabi Tel Aviv touches the Euroleague playoffs, placed sixth in the factory table, and achieved half revenge on the team that tore it apart at the beginning of the season.
It was an evening that could easily go down in the history of this season as the one that ruined Maccabi's season.
After an excellent start and a double-digit lead, the yellows collapsed, saw Basconia rush to an 11-point lead at the beginning of the third quarter and control the game without shooting from outside the arc, but Maccabi recovered, turned the game perfectly and from that point closed the third quarter with 5:23 and the game with 19:44 .
Wade Baldwin was the man for Maccabi with 24 points, Lorenzo Brown added 17 and Josh Niebo contributed 15. Captain John DiBartholomeo shone again with 11 points, but the amazing statistic of the evening came from the rebound column.
The worst defensive rebounding team in the factory throughout most of the season beat Basconia 30:47 in a battle under the baskets.
His mood speaks volumes.
Ketch (Photo: Danny Maron)
"Basconia is a team with good scorers everywhere, you have to give a lot of credit to Bonzi and Jarrell who played on Thompson who was not in their position and made him work very hard, and a lot of credit to Josh Niebo, 10 and 10 in the first half, he was dominant, scored a penalty, Made the right decisions. Lorenzo had a big third quarter and I had another good game," Baldwin concluded, "Our stops got us into the game, we forced Basconia into a lot of tough shots, we got defensive rebounds and didn't give them offensive rebounds in the second half, when they're throwing the shots and we're in rotations And taking the rebound is important. It was an important game and we continued to be the best home team in the Euroleague."
Jarl Martin added: "It was a big win for us, we knew that Asconia is one of the most talented offensively in the Euroleague, the important thing was to keep the pace of the game and we did that. My teammates found me in good positions to score the shots,
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A big step towards the playoffs: Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Basconia 79:93
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"We continued to be the best home team in the Euroleague (Photo: Danny Maron)
2. As mentioned, at the beginning of the third quarter it seemed that the game was going in the farthest direction from a sporting revenge of the yellows.
Baskonia managed to escape to a 60:49 lead after a 0:15 run at the beginning of the quarter, and Maccabi looked overwhelmed.
But the yellows again showed character, responding with a 19:44 run until the end of the game, and got their revenge on the Basques for the first round.
The way Maccabi did it, is the unexpected way, and continues its amazing period.
After overwhelming Andolo offensively with only 64 points, the Yellows continued to be super dominant on defense, holding Basconia to 5 of 32 shots from beyond the arc.
The Basques score, including last night's performance, 10.8 three-pointers in 30 attempts on average.
For comparison, in the home loss to Monaco last week, Asconia scored 16 three-pointers from 33 attempts, in the victory over Real Madrid a week earlier 16 three-pointers from 36 attempts, and in the victory at the beginning of the season against Maccabi Tel Aviv 15 three-pointers from 33 attempts.
Oded Ketch attributed the percentages both to the good defense of the yellows, and to luck, and his players gave credit to their work mainly.
"Basconia is a team that can score whenever they want, I think the game plan was to slow them down, we did that well most of the game, Thompson was not good and we did a good job to slow him down," said Lorenzo Brown and Baldwin also agreed: "We know that Basconia, They come to score threes, they are 15 and 13 like us, each team will have its run, we were able to get back into the game with the talent we have and with an excellent defense."
bill breaker
Josh Nibo (Photo: Danny Maron)
3. Although Baldwin was once again the star of the Yellows in the game, the big story is the explosion of Josh Niebo.
Maccabi Tel Aviv waited 27 rounds for Big Iva to start paying bills, and in the last two games, Nivu looked like everything Maccabi dreamed of at the beginning of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
"Josh is one of the tallest who is the best guard in the Euroleague, gives us a lot, a tremendous rebounder. He is not a player with rich Euroleague experience, at the beginning of his career with a lot of upside, can't explain how positive and focused he is and wants to succeed. It's a pleasure to coach us, he has upside , I love him. Even in less good games, you have to know how to hug him, he is tremendous for us," Oded Ketch praised his chin.
At Maccabi Tel Aviv, they say so many good things about Nivo, that even in less good games he doesn't break things, remains positive for his friends and shows that he is a "player for winning teams", as one of the senior officials said last night.
Niebo himself remained very humble as usual: "It was a good team victory today, we showed character. We were leading, we were behind, but we stayed together and got the victory. It was playoff intensity, the teams are fighting for the playoff spot so I feel it's like a playoff victory. We continued to execute the game plan after things went even less well for us."
Dreaming of more promotion to the playoffs.
Brown (Photo: Danny Maron)
4. "There are evenings like last night, where not only do you do the work, almost all the other teams do the work for you," said one of Maccabi's staff at the end of the game, looking at the Euroleague scoreboard.
And so in one evening, Milan and Virtus Bologna dropped out of the fight for the playoffs, Zalgiris missed an opportunity to sting Olympiakos and Andolo also stumbled.
Five rounds to the end of the season, Maccabi Tel Aviv finds itself one win away from ninth place, still not enough, but in light of the difficult schedule of matches that Partizan Belgrade has, which is next to it in the balance sheet, but mainly the two very difficult matches that now await Zalgiris Kovna, which is now out of For the playoffs, Maccabi can start thinking about more than eighth place, and perhaps improve positions to avoid Olympiakos and Real Madrid.
"The opportunity is there, we need to be in the right shape at the right moments to compete with the rivals for the higher places. It will be challenging in the next games, we will have to be focused and do our best to win," agreed Lorenzo Brown with the dream of a higher place in the table.
Despite everything, there is also concern about going to France (Photo: Danny Maron)
5. And despite the excellent situation, Oded Ketch and Baldwin surprised last night with a frightened look towards the team's next opponent in the Euroleague - Villerban.
Yes, from the heights of 17th place in the table, with 4 wins from 15 home games, Ketch defined the game against the French rival as "our biggest game this season is Villerban away, I fear this game no less than Andolo away or Fener at home".
Baldwin also continued the line: "We play Willerbane, who are not well balanced, but their home has energy, they play very well at home, they beat Basconia by about 30 points, they should not be taken lightly, we beat Eps with all the players, this is a game Very dangerous, we'll see how we get through it."
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