Monaco players celebrate qualifying for the Final Four in the dressing room (official website, Monaco)
One of Maccabi Tel Aviv's most successful seasons in the Euroleague in recent years ended Wednesday night with elimination in the playoff stage in the fifth and decisive game against Monaco outside. The Yellows are 9 years out of the Final Four, with the only team among the founding teams of the Euroleague to have a longer streak is Panathinaikos, who has not been to the Final Four since 2012.
Maccabi Tel Aviv aimed at the beginning of the season under Oded Katsch to fight for entry to the playoffs. The post-season run that gave the Yellows fifth place and the start of the play-off series against Monaco shattered initial expectations. However, the team felt they had a great opportunity to reach the Final Four and left with a taste of missing out on the series.
The Yellows will strive to finish the season with a championship title, having also lost in the State Cup final, and in order to reach the decisive stages of the league in the best possible situation, they will want to beat Hapoel Tel Aviv in the derby on Sunday, and reach the quarter-finals series against Hapoel Be'er Sheva. When it reaches the playoffs, Maccabi Tel Aviv will have to decide who will be the five foreigners who will dress for each series.
With a feeling of missed opportunity. Coulson (Photo: official website, Elad Goldstein, Instagram Maccabi Tel Aviv)
More about the series
Lorenzo Brown insists: "A successful season, we did the impossible"Maccabi Tel Aviv lost in Monaco and ended the European season
Ketch concluded with disappointment: "
We lost the series in Game 3. Difficult feeling"Monaco sent a sting to Maccabi Tel Aviv, Lloyd: "They didn't believe in us at the beginning of the series"
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A significant part of the Yellows' squad is also signed for next season and beyond. Wade Baldwin, Lorenzo Brown and Roman Sorkin have officially extended contracts, Josh Nivo and Rafi Manko have contracts for next season, and Bonzi Coulson and John DiBartolomeo have also agreed to contract extensions. Jake Cohen is set to extend his contract, and Brian Angola is set to join the club.
Maccabi Tel Aviv will have to make a decision on Jerrell Martin, who is inclined to continue with him, as well as Alex Poythers and Darren Hilliard, who are not expected to continue. Yiftach Ziv will terminate his contract and leave, as for Guy Pnini - his decision and that of the team will be made at the end of the season.
Maccabi Tel Aviv know that their main problem in the series against Monaco was in the interior positions. Poythers was the leading scorer at the interior with 7 points, Jerrell Martin scored 5.2, Josh Nivo 5.4 and Jake Cohen 1.6. Roman Sorkin, one of the Yellowjackets' finest stories this season, was not involved at all in Game 5, finishing the series averaging just 3.2 points. On the other hand, Monaco received 8.4 points from Donuts Motionas, 5.8 from John Brown, 4.6 from Donte Hall and 10 points in the last game from Cima Monca, who was a candidate to join Maccabi during the season.
One will stay and one will leave? Martin and Poitras (Photo: Danny Maron)
"There is no doubt that in the end Monaco won us in the struggles in the domestic positions," said one Maccabi Tel Aviv member during the night. "Mutiunas was very steady, John Brown was big in the third game, and Monka and Hall did the job in the last game. We didn't get enough of our players and we have to think about what to do."
Assuming that Martin's option is exercised, and that Maccabi Tel Aviv does not act to get out of his contract, the club will make every effort to find a player in Poythres' place in the No. 4 position who can better complement the front line. It will also be where most of the money allocated for reinforcement will be invested.
- sport
- basketball
- Euroleague and European basketball
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- Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball