Maccabi Tel Aviv celebrates the end of the Euroleague regular season (Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball)
1. Maccabi Tel Aviv celebrated last night (Thursday) securing the fifth place in the Euroleague in the closing round of the table after a dramatic 96:100 victory over Real Madrid at the end of extra time at Menorah Hall.
The Yellows completed a great run of seven wins in the last eight rounds, and after Fenerbahce lost to Red Star Belgrade away, they took fifth place in the table and will play Monaco in the quarter-final play-off series.
The celebrations at Menorah Hall began on the floor with the fans, and continued inside the locker room where they congratulated the players on the achievement and the club's first 20-win season since the league system began, and then the players were treated to a celebration at the expense of coach Oded Ketch, who received friendly blows from the players and staff.
Last night Maccabi knew how to get out of a significant deficit in the first half thanks to a great ability in the second half, together with energies that came from the crowd, and already opened a 7-point advantage in the decisive minutes, but Real did not break and managed to force overtime.
At the start of extra time, Lorenzo Brown injured his ankle, a minor injury that is not expected to cause him to be absent from the courts beyond the next league game, but Maccabi did not break and with the help of a clutch move by Darren Hilliard managed to secure the victory.
"We were told here that this is the first season in the Euroleague that Maccabi has won 20 games, we have 12 new players in this team, a new coach, to finish in fifth place in a Euroleague as competitive as this season. It is unbelievable what this club has done this season," said Wade Baldwin at the end of the game, "A lot of things were done in the summer to get us to this point, and the players showed up. You have to give a lot of credit to the fans, we have the best home record in the Euroleague, only 2 losses, it's been a great year, but we have a new season from now, get ready for Monaco, still 4 to go Playing in the league, we have a lot on our plate and play great basketball in the last two months of the season."
A wonderful end to the regular season.
Maccabi Tel Aviv players (photo: Danny Maron)
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2. Just a little over a month ago, Maccabi Tel Aviv lost in Monaco in a loss that seemed to mark its way out of the playoffs, but then the turnaround began.
The Yellows began a streak of victories not seen at the Menorah Hall since the 2019/20 season, beating a large part of their direct rivals for the playoff ticket, and the icing on the cake was a victory over Real Madrid last night.
"Until yesterday's game, we had a balance of 2 wins and five losses against the first four, including four losses in a row, we needed this victory for the feeling that we are able to do it before the playoffs," said one of Maccabi's people during the night, "I don't think there was an excessive celebration We have made quite an achievement here, there is enough time to get down to earth, no one will arrive in euphoria for Monaco."
There is enough time to get to the ground.
Ketch (Photo: Danny Maron)
3. Between Maccabi and Aliya advancing to the Final Four stands a team that has never been to the last four of the Euroleague.
The French Monaco is a team on the rise, with a lot of money, and a team that aimed to be high from the beginning of the season.
Maccabi beat Monaco in the third round of the season 70:78, and suffered a defeat from them on March 2 86:67.
"I think if you look at July and August, at the signings that were made, you can make many points of comparison between the two teams. We won here and lost there, and after the loss there we started our run. We will regroup, we have a series in Monaco, the playoffs are a new challenge for us, we We will be ready for this challenge," said Wade Baldwin.
Darren Hilliard, who has played in the Euroleague playoffs for the past two years, talked about the fascinating matchup between the teams' guards: "I think we have a good matchup with them. They have great guards, with a lot of experience, but we are also good, we have a lot of center backs, who can do different things, it won't be easy, it will be a big challenge for both teams, and it will be exciting."
On the importance of an away win, Hilliard added: "I don't think a win there will end the series. Monaco is a great team, they almost beat us here at the start of the season, it won't be easy, we'll have to win one game, or maybe two, it's not an easy place to play They have a different kind of hall, if we know how to win there, I believe it will be easier for us."
Looking for closure.
Hilliard (Photo: Danny Maron)
4. The one who buried the big three in money time that sent Maccabi to the series with Real was Hilliard.
The shooter of the Yellows closed a double circle during his clutch.
After a season in which he barely saw the field in the decisive moments, and rarely played in general, he was there for his team, and now he will be able to try and return to a great status in Europe after last year he was injured during Bayern Munich's playoff series against Barcelona.
"I'm always ready," Hilliard said modestly, "I work like that, trying to be a professional. Came to do my job, I was in a great position to take the shot. Wade handed me a ball, I was at a good pace and my part was easy."
In Maccabi Tel Aviv we congratulated the player: "He is going through a very difficult season, and it was easiest for him to break down and go back. He works hard and the fact that he continued to be there for the team is amazing. It is clear that his career will continue and flourish and he can still be significant for us this season in Europe as well." said one of the group members.
Will the series open on the eve of Independence Day?
Cohen and Coulson (Photo: Danny Maron)
5. Two questions will be clarified in the coming days regarding the series between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Monaco.
The first question is the date of the first game in the series.
According to some reports, Monaco is supposed to play its first game on April 25, that is, Tuesday, but officials in France said that the team is interested in starting on Wednesday, April 26, which will make the series very crowded.
April 25 is Memorial Day and the eve of Independence Day, and the game itself will be played anyway on Memorial Day, but some Maccabi people supported the idea of playing the first game on Wednesday.
In any case, the third game in the series will be played the following Tuesday at Menora Hall, May 2.
The second question is about the number of spectators that Maccabi Tel Aviv will be able to bring to the small Sala Gaston Medzin which holds less than 5,000 spectators.
Maccabi estimated that a few hundreds of tickets will be transferred to them for the series, and it is not clear how many fans will choose to make the way to Monaco, one of the most expensive destinations in Europe.
sport
basketball
Euroleague and European basketball
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Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball