There seems to be something good going on at Maccabi Tel Aviv these days, something very, very good. With a stunning 75-74 win over Real Madrid, the yellow-and-blue not only snatched the victory at the death but they moved ever so close to clinching a playoff spot which was something of a fantasy just a short month ago.

Sure the Russian teams having been excluded from the standings was a gigantic help as Maccabi now sits in 6th place with a 13-11 record as they had 3 losses and 1 win wiped out, however, even if the yellow-and-blue were now at 14-14 they also may have had a chance to punch their ticket to the postseason.

But we are living in what is a reality that if Maccabi wins their two games next week at Panathinaikos and then at home against ASVEL Villeurbanne, the Yad Eliyahu faithful will have the arena rocking and rolling all night long.

“I like to deal with the here and now and not speculation,” Even said after the win. “We still have other games to play to get into the playoffs and we are showing character. If we continue like this, we will get there and we can be legitimate playoff team.”

Derrick Williams, who played well on both sides of the ball with clutch scoring and tight defense as the game wound down, even playing as an undersized center feels that Maccabi is a legitimate Final Four threat, “Ya, I think that. We have the roster and fan base and we have everything. Fans, team and a little bit of everything to get to the Final Four. We want to take it one day at a time and we have an important road game coming up at Panathinaikos. It was a great double week for us and now we have to get ready for next week.”

Defense was key in this win without a question as Maccabi held Real scoreless over the final 5:41. When was the last time that that happened? Think about that for a moment. One of the classic all time great teams stymied in crunch time when scoring mattered most.

Pablo Laso, Real’s coach didn’t even want to go there and said that he didn’t have much to say about what occurred as the game wound down and that he would need to watch the game first before he commented on those last few minutes.

Laso knew full well what happened during that time, but wasn’t looking to point the finger at any one player so he decided to just skirt around the topic and leave the proverbial elephant in the room.

However, that didn’t stop Even from reflecting on what went down during that time and spoke about how he felt as he watched the complexion of the game change right before his eyes.

“There is no secret to the defense but the desire to win the game. I’m happy that we defended better and what I’ll take from the game is that we won 75-74. We beat two top European teams but you don’t start thinking about what is going on while the game time is running down. I’m so proud and we will take not just those five minutes forward but that we are continuing to be a better club.”

One of the club’s defensive stalwarts on this night was no question Angelo Caloiaro who in 15 minutes played his role to absolute perfection whether it was to play lock down defense or to matchup with Walter Tavares on a tip-off with just 5 seconds to go inside the Maccabi zone.

Williams talked about how Caloiaro was a very important part to the victory, “Angelo played well and he is like a Swiss Army knife where he can shoot, rebound, guard and guard bigs and is a very important part to our team.”

Scottie Wilbekin who chalked up 14 points and not only iced the game and put Maccabi in the lead with his free throws, came back with a vengeance after a poor offensive game against Milano that saw him score only 3 points. The star guard also looked at the team’s defense as being a huge part of the victories that saw Maccabi give up only 58 points on Tuesday and 74 points against Real holding the Spaniards to just 8 points in the final frame.

“It’s tough when a team gets that many second chances and they are tall. We did whatever we could and we fought. We picked ourselves up, rotated on defense, hustled to get the 50/50 balls that put us over the top. We need everyone to step up and last game everyone played well except for me. Keenan stepped up and made big shots and everyone locked in on defense.”

It’s crystal clear that Maccabi has changed from the team that they were a little over a month ago under Ioannis Sfairopoulos to the one they are now with Avi Even on the sidelines. That doesn’t mean that one coach or the other is better or worse and Sfairopoulos has probably forgotten more about coaching than Even knows now as he is still learning the ropes just like one Pablo Laso did once upon a time.

There have been changes and when this writer asked Scottie Wilbekin what this were he sat speechless for what seemed to be an eternity and he thought as to how to answer the question diplomatically in order to not insult Sfairopoulos in any shape or form.

Finally after about a minute of thought he said, “I would say that’s within the team and we have done some things to come together as a team. But it’s between us.”

And that is fine. Let all of that be between the players which is what Williams said as well but added a lot more details, “A lot of it comes with the making of the team and we are in the middle of the season now for 7-8 months and we are holding each other accountable. We want to win and we are on each other which is also what changed. Not calling each other out and telling the truth and level up. That is what you see so far we are playing as a team and holding each other accountable.”

Obviously, accountability will be the key to success for this Maccabi team and if Even’s magic doesn’t rub off then maybe, just maybe yellow-and-blue fans will be in for big surprise.

All in all, as they say, winning cures everything, but it also keeps the fans content and the players happy as larks.

“It’s been a crazy season with the team coaches, fans ands a lot of balagan,” Wilbekin said. “When you get two big wins against top 4 teams, the fans are happy and we are happy.”

And there is nothing better than happiness as a team comes together to make a run at European glory.