On Thursday, Maccabi Tel Aviv flew to Istanbul for its Round 2 Euroleague clash against Fenerbahçe slated for Fridat night. Oded Katash’s squad is far from settled – not only with far-from-convincing performances to date, but also with rumors of early changes to the roster that may happen as early as today – however, Maccabi has had a positive start to both the EuroLeague and Israeli league seasons, with the 84:83 home win against Žalgiris last Thursday followed by victories over Ness Ziona on Saturday (95:87) and Kiryat Ata on Tuesday (94:68). Fenerbahçe comes into the game with the same record, after a win in Germany last week against Bayern Munich (74:62), as well as two local league victories over Bahçeşehir (78:72) and Büyükçekmece (85:80).

While every Euroleague game is important, this one contest will have a little more significance for one of Fenerbahçe’s new star signings, Scottie Wilbekin, who joined the Turkish team after spending four seasons in Tel Aviv. “Well, I’ve played against him a lot in practices, but it’ll be a little bit different when the stakes are higher,” Maccabi big man Jake Cohen told the press when speaking about Wilbekin prior to the flight. “First of all, I’m looking forward to seeing my friend, but second, once the game starts, I’m looking forward to trying to beat my friend too. So it should be a fun game.”

Wilbekin’s new teammate, Dyshawn Pierre, who spoke with the Sports Rabbi during the week, also acknowledged that this game would be special for Wilbekin, “He takes every game seriously, but former team, there’s a little more motivation behind this game.”

Yellow & Blue star Bonzie Colson, who had an MVP performance in last week’s opener against Žalgiris, flagged his excitement at the prospect of playing against Pierre and the Fener team, “He’s a really talented player, you know I played against him last year when I was in Karşıyaka. He’s a really talented, he’s a really aggressive and an energetic player, so it’s going to be a great matchup for all of us and you know we’re excited just to play.”

Of course, Fenerbahçe had a number of new signings over the summer, including all-time Euroleague assists leader and past Euroleague champion, Nick Calathes. “We know the accolades, and we know how important and special he is as a player,” reflected Pierre. “When you’re on the floor, he’s a complete floor general, you kind of trust what he’s doing, and he just helps everyone out.”

Katash is under no illusion of what his team is up against tonight, especially after their inconsistent start to the season: “We’re as ready as we can be at this stage, we’re come a little short and missing Darrun Hilliard [who is out injured for the near future]. I suppose that will put a little more strain on other players, but it’s a good test for us. I think that when you look back on the previous games, to not be focused for 40 minutes will be very difficult. This is a game that begins at the outset with a level of focus, and we cannot have ups and downs like we have had. We’re playing against a lot talent. These are completely different players, also at the guard position, whether it’s Calathes or Wilbekin, they are very different. We need to be very focused. We will see.”

Fenerbahçe go into this game as heavy favorites and they hope that the home crowd will give them the edge in their first home game of the 2022-23 Euroleague season. “If we can use the energy of our fans, because they’re always important, it’s probably going to be a good game for us,” noted Pierre. However, as the Euroleague ad proclaims: “Anything is possible in this league,” and the yellow and blue from Tel Aviv will be hoping that they will be able to steal a victory in Turkey.