On Friday, Maccabi Tel Aviv had a disappointing road loss in its round 2 Euroleague clash against Fenerbahçe, falling 86-71 in a game that was mostly controlled by the home side. Marko Guduric (23 points, 6 rebounds), Jonathan Motley (15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists) and Nick Calathes (13 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) were the leading scorers for the Istanbul based squad, while Wade Baldwin IV (14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists), Lorenzo Brown (13 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists) and Josh Nebo (12 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist) led the way for the Yellow & Blue. Here are some of my thoughts from the game.
The Good: Never say die spirit
After a disappointing second quarter (read below, “The Ugly”), Maccabi were caught snoozing after half time, allowing Fenerbahçe to get out to a 20 point lead less than three minutes into the third quarter. However, the road team didn’t just give up, and fought back to give their fans some hope, even getting to within 7 points with a little under 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Although the comeback ultimately fell short, and the home team had a convincing victory, it was encouraging to see Maccabi continue to fight.
“I think we struggled the whole game,” reflected Roman Sorkin (8 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist) after the game. “We saw the quality of Fenerbahçe and they successfully disrupted our game. We didn’t give up in the fourth quarter and we got to within 7 points with the ball in our hands, but they went on another run and that was already too much.”

Wade Baldwin – Photo Credit: Burak Saltik, Fenerbahche photographer
The Bad: Rebounding
While the stats sheet shows that Maccabi improved the rebound count from last week (26-43), they still lost last night by 9 – a margin that Fenerbahçe had at both halftime (22-13) and at fulltime (46-37). There were positives, and Nebo and Sorkin together collected an aggregate of 18 rebounds in an aggregate of just over 36 minutes of play, however Maccabi only got 3 rebounds from starting big man Alex Poythress (to go with 10 points and 2 assists) in his 30+ minutes of play.
There were times that the Fenerbahçe players looked more desperate under the rim, and as Maccabi coach Oded Katash conceded in his post-game interview with, “To win here in Fenerbahçe, you need to concentrate for 40 minutes and control the boards.” Katash will need to make sure his centers can become more consistent as the season progresses in order to put in the effort for a full four quarters.

Lorenzo Brown – Photo Credit: Burak Saltik, Fenerbahche photographer
The Ugly: The second quarter
The first 10 minutes was even between the sides, with the home team taking a 23-20 lead into the second quarter. However, it was a disastrous second frame from Maccabi. While Fenerbahçe only went to the line once in the first quarter, Maccabi had already picked up 5 fouls putting the hosts into bonus with 6:55 to play in the second quarter. This set the tone for the remainder of the period, in which Maccabi only scored 12 points, and went into the break down 46-32. Even more heartbreaking for Maccabi fans was seeing their former star, Scottie Wilbekin (12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) stand out in the quarter with 6 points, including a 4-point play. While Maccabi did fight back, the second quarter proved to be fatal.
This was acknowledged by Fenerbahçe coach, Dimitrios Itoudis, after the game, “That second quarter that we outplayed them defensively I think it gave us another thing, it’s obvious that it gave us the boost of understanding how the game should be played.”
Up Next: A French double-week
Maccabi now come home for the first double-week for the season, and back-to-back games at Yad Eliyahu. First up, is a tough game on Tuesday night against AS Monaco, who will be coming in confident with a 2-0 record, including an overtime win this past Thursday against reigning Euroleague champions, Anadolu Efes. Then on Thursday night, they will face ASVEL Villeurbanne, currently with a 1-1 record, who will be coming to Tel Aviv after an away game on Tuesday night against Fenerbahçe.

Jalen Adams – Design: Yehuda Halickman
Maccabi will be hoping for a boost from their new guard, Jalen Adams, who signed a three-month contract on Saturday. This will be Adams’s first run in the Euroleague, but Maccabi will be hoping that his experience with Hapoel Jerusalem last season – in which he led the team with 17.8 points in their Champions League campaign – will help fill the hole in the rotation following Darrun Hilliard’s injury.
“Jalen Adams has very good and well-known offensive abilities,” Katash said of his new signing.” A situation has been created in which we need another creative guard in the rotation, and he will be able to help us. I’m happy that he is joining Maccabi Tel Aviv.”
Adams was also enthusiastic about his new challenge in his statement to Maccabi’s website, “I am excited and thankful for the opportunity to play for a prestigious organization like Maccabi. The tradition and culture behind the team is like no other. With that being said, I am looking forward to joining the already talented team and help compete for championships.”
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