There is plenty of European basketball action coming up on Tuesday evening as Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Olympiacos in Piraeus on Tuesday (19:15) while Hapoel Tel Aviv plays Anadolu EFES (19:30) in a home game that will take place in Sofia due to the ongoing relationship issues between Israel and Turkey in Euroleague action. Hapoel Jerusalem plays Besiktas (20:00) in Belgrade which is also a home contest for the reds in the EuroCup and Hapoel Holon opens up the Round of 16 group stage versus Rytas in Lithuania (19:30) in Champions League play.

Maccabi Tel Aviv currently sports a 9-13 record and are in 14th place as they begin a Greek Double Week which will feature Olympiacos who sit in 7th place with a 13-8 record which will be followed up by a home game versus Panathinaikos on Thursday. But first things first, Georgiios Bartzokas’s side is a tough team without a doubt and one that always seems to give the yellow-and-blue problems, especially when they play at the Peace and Friendship Arena.

Last time the two met, Maccabi just came up short 95-94 in a game that was played in Belgrade but that featured Lonnie Walker who is now out of action with a shoulder injury along with a red hot Jeff Dowtin who scored 24 points. Dowtin will be listed to play but it seems that he will not be part of Head Coach Oded Katash’s plans as he works himself back into playing shape after having been out for 6 weeks. The guard had been registered in the Israeli league against Hapoel Holon over the weekend and didn’t play and was also on the Euroleague bench last week against Zalgiris and didn’t see the Yad Eliyahu floor.

“Jeff is a player who shouldn’t play here, only if there’s no choice. But again, bringing in a player who’s coming back from such a long injury into this level of intensity is also not a simple challenge. We’ll want to integrate him as much as possible,” Katahs said.

The bench boss is fully aware that this will be a big challenge and one that will be a very tough game to come away with the win, “The challenges we’re dealing with go beyond the professional aspect. It’s about managing a deep roster with constant changes and injuries. Olympiacos, for example, have had their injured players return and are in a much better situation than we are. Still, it’s a challenging one for the medical staff, for Regev Fanan and the physio team. It’s certainly a basketball challenge, but it’s something we have to overcome together as a group.”

One of the players that Maccabi will need to count on to pick up the slack is Jimmy Clark who has started to play his best basketball of his career over the past couple of weeks. The 24-year old guard came over to the yellow-and-blue last season from Bnei Herzliya and slowly but surely has become a player that Katash has been counting on.

Ever since Iffe Lundberg joined the club, Clark has benefited from playing together with him and by just having his overall calming presence and know how around, especially when it comes to handling the ball, managing the play and closing out the game.

In the past three games Clark has scored 15 points and dished out 5 assists against Hapoel Jerusalem, added 17 points and 5 helpers versus Zalgiris and then scored another 17 points and chalked up 8 assists against Hapoel Holon.

Will Rayman spoke about having Clark on board, “Jimmy is a very good player; he arrived last season and keeps improving from game to game. When he plays well, we play well and he needs to keep that going.”

In essence, Clark has been a catalyst as he continues to improve and mature as a player explained Katash, “I think Jimmy is in the midst of a good period and it’s not just about his points, that’s quite clear. You need to remember he’s a young player with a lot of upside and stability. That’s the key when we talk about Jimmy.”

Another young player who has improved by leaps and bounds is Marcio Santos who has been excellent for Maccabi thus far this season and recognized that he has been taking the next step in his career.

“I feel like I am improving and I am learning the system better and the players, I have been here five months and everyone feels better and have been catching up with the coach. Having home games is helping as well.”

As for Olympiacos, the big man added, “We know this is a tough opponent that has been playing together for a long time. They have plenty of EuroLeague experience, but we’re improving day by day and we’re coming off a win against Zalgiris.”

On the other side of the court, Bartzokas understands that despite the absence of Lonnie Walker, that Maccabi is still a very dangerous team, “Maccabi is in good momentum. Offensively, they are one of the best teams in the EuroLeague. Defensively, they use a lot of tricks that often confuse the opponent and sometimes even themselves. So our players need to stay committed to the game plan. Offensively, they play in an unusual way, with a lot of short rolls: the centers stay on the perimeter, the power forwards move inside. [Tamir] Blatt’s playmaking is always important. Overall, they are a very distinctive and very dangerous team, especially given the good momentum they have with the way they play.”

Donta Hall, is also concerned about the yellow-and-blue test in front of them, “We need to keep playing the way we’ve played in the last three games. Against Maccabi, we have to apply pressure on defense for forty minutes and the offense will take care of itself.”

All in all, Rayman knows that Olympiacos will be a big test for Maccabi and one that will be very difficult but with the goal of coming away with the victory, “They are a very experienced and high-quality team. They’ve been playing together for a long time and are in good form right now. It will be a tough game, but I think we have a solid game plan and a real chance to win. We all remember the previous game against themת we led by 10 in the fourth quarter and lost. We’ll go there determined to win.”

Over in Sofia, Hapoel Tel Aviv is coming into the EFES game with a 15-6 record which places them right at the top of the standings while the Turkish team are all the way down in 18th place with a 6-16 record. But Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis understands that the game will not be walkover by any stretch of the imagination.

“It’s another challenge and we accept it. We need to find a way to be ready for a game against a very competitive team with a lot of skill. They’ve had several injured players, which has affected them in key moments and influenced their recent results. But it’s not only about results, it’s about the quality they have. We’re approaching this game by respecting every aspect of their team: the guards, the bigs, the forwards, their concepts, their structure, and the experience they bring. Overall, it’s going to be a very, very challenging game for us.”

Ish Wainright shared his thoughts on the game, “They have great players and a great coaching staff, so anything can happen. It’s going to be a dogfight from the opening tip. Much respect to those guys and we have two players on our team who are looking forward to facing their former club. It’ll be a battle from start to finish and we’ll have to keep competing until the final buzzer.”

EFES bench boss Pablo Laso commented on what he sees as a very tough game for his squad, “It will definitely be a difficult game for us. Hapoel Tel Aviv is currently one of the best teams in the EuroLeague, playing with a lot of quality across their roster. They have a very strong squad, and of course, we all know [Vasilije] Micic from his time at Anadolu Efes, he creates a lot of situations for them with his size, passing and shooting, which helps them on both offense and defense.

“For us, it’s clear that we can’t just focus on effort. We have to focus on ourselves and on playing good basketball. This is the first message I will give my players: be concerned with how we play as a team. If we don’t play well collectively, we won’t be able to compete against a team with Hapoel Tel Aviv’s quality.”

Nick Weiler-Babb also chimed in, “Hapoel Tel Aviv is in a great shape and is playing good basketball right now. We need to show a response to the past week, and that starts from the beginning of the game. It’s the first game to another double week so we need to set the tone early. The game will be tough, but we are ready!”

Hapoel Holon begins their Champions League Round of 16 journey with a tough game at Rytas, however, head coach Yoav Shamir will have a new center with the squad in Adama Sanogo who arrives from their last opponent, Trapani. Idan Zalmanson, who was injured in the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, joined the team on a separate flight and arrived a day later than the rest of the team for the contest as he underwent an ankle X-ray that ruled out a fracture and the hope is that he will be able to take part in the game.

Yair Kravitz’s participation in the game is doubtful and will be decided only shortly before tip-off following a fitness test while Derrick Walton Jr. is expected to be fit for the game after not playing against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“We are excited ahead of the start of the BCL Top 16 stage,” Shamir said. “We are coming into a game against a good team that is in good form. We have done our preparations, studied the opponent, and we want to open this stage with a win that will give us a good boost going forward.”

As for the team’s new recruit, Shamir added, “We are very happy about Adama joining the team. He is a player who brings a lot of physicality and energy under the basket on both ends of the court. His impressive college career testifies to his winning mentality and toughness, which will help us face the challenges that await us this season.”

Hapoel Jerusalem will look to take one more step in wrapping up first place overall as they enter the Besiktas game in first place in Group A with a 12-2 record.