Moshe Barda 01/03/2024 06:30
Lorenzo Brown (Maccabi Tel Aviv’s official website)
Satisfaction in Maccabi Tel Aviv after the 71:106 victory over Alba Berlin last night (Thursday) as part of the 27th round of the top league in Europe. The yellows of Oded Ketch and his apprentices improved their record to 14 wins against 13 losses and this when there are still seven rounds left to the end of the regular season. “We had an excellent game, almost without mistakes with very high percentages and high concentration,” said the club about the ability against Israel Gonzalez’s albatross and are already looking towards the upcoming league game against Hapoel Eilat.
“What happened against Partizan was in the back of my mind,” admitted the club, the opening was great for Ketch and his apprentices and to some extent as expected, certainly considering the identity of the opponent. At the same time, the fact that this is a game in which the national champion cannot really afford to stumble, Maccabi Tel Aviv did not underestimate the opponent and the way in which the game developed with an emphasis on the first half led to certain memories that were a little less pleasant against Partizan Belgrade, only this time the yellows continued the second half Exactly from the same place where they finished the first one.
Ketch and his apprentices won in each of the four quarters and the club was satisfied with the ability on both sides of the field, “everything functioned as it should. The players killed the game very early and did not let Alba come back.” In the end, a loss could have greatly complicated Maccabi Tel Aviv, certainly when the regular season entered its last line, the victory over Elba by a high margin slightly improved the basket differences of the yellows who are still in a negative balance in this respect of -22 in the overall balance which can play a role in such a constellation Or otherwise, depending on the situation of course.
Wade Baldwin (Maccabi Tel Aviv’s official website)
The national champion, as I remember, is aiming for the playoffs and yesterday’s victory continued the positive momentum it is in, the team members complimented their Big 3 – Wade Baldwin, Lorenzo Brown and Bonzie Colson, in addition they were satisfied that Antonios Cleveland took the opportunity he was given and also from the purposeful display of James Webb who also made sure to end the first half with a basket. In the club, we noted the team play and the ball that moved well on the way to an impressive assists-losses ratio of 29 assists on 9 turnovers, while the yellows additionally stole 11 balls.
Last night’s victory raised Ketch and his apprentices to ninth place in the Euroleague table, while Valencia and Partizan are one win away from Ketch and his apprentices. In the case of Partizan, it is actually more than a victory, since the national champion has an internal advantage against Partizan Belgrade, regarding a potential tie breaker against Valencia, the yellows will have to beat the oranges from Spain by 10 points. The playoffs and the playoffs
As you remember, the play-in tournament will be played for the first time this season when the teams that finish in 7-10 places play in it and two of them qualify for the playoffs. The Euroleague format has changed this year and the first six teams at the end of the regular season will qualify directly for the playoff series. The tournament brings together places 7-8 in the table and places 9-10, when the winner of the first meeting will actually qualify for the playoffs at the end of 35 games, the loser between places 7-8 will wait for the winner between places 9-10. The loser from the last meeting will of course be eliminated directly, the winner will get one last chance to enter the top eight which is worth a place in a quarter-final series that is played in a best-of-five-game format, the four winners of the playoff series qualify for the Final Four, which will be held this year in Berlin in May. The winner of the play-in tournament, and with emphasis on the winner of the match between places 7-8, will avoid a playoff series against the Blancos and will meet the team ranked second where Barcelona is now.
Urban press conference RG-Maccabi Tel Aviv