Hapoel Tel Aviv expects to remain at the top of the standings with a farewell-round game in Botevgrad against the last-place team in the standings, while Maccabi Tel Aviv heads out to a tough road game against Žalgiris with full management backing for Head Coach Oded Katash.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of tip-off for EuroLeague Round 14.
After a very disappointing national team break, the eyes of Israeli basketball turn once again to the representatives in European competitions, hoping that they can provide some comfort and optimism ahead of the resumption of domestic league play next week. For Hapoel Tel Aviv (record 9-4), the task doesn’t seem particularly complicated, as they will host ASVEL Villeurbanne (3–10) in Bulgaria on Thursday (21:05) in a meeting between the first-place team and the last-place team in the standings.

Katash’s assignment, after receiving recent public backing from the Maccabi Tel Aviv management, is far more complicated. The yellow-and-blue (3-10) travel to a road game in Kaunas (Thursday 20:00), hoping to surprise Žalgiris (8–5) and begin the process of climbing out of the bottom of the table even before returning to play games at home.

A Top-vs-Bottom Clash
After last week’s loss to Real Madrid, the top of the EuroLeague table is tighter than ever. Hapoel Tel Aviv sits in first place thanks to a better point differential than Crvena Zvezda and Panathinaikos, with only one win separating them from Barcelona in ninth place.

So this is a perfect time to face ASVEL Villeurbanne, which finds itself in the EuroLeague’s basement with an unimpressive 3-10 record. Villeurbanne comes into Hapoel’s final “home” game in Bulgaria with just one win in its last seven over the collapsing Partizan Belgrade and with several embarrassing blowout losses to Crvena Zvezda, Žalgiris and Monaco.

The French side recently added veteran Thomas Heurtel and Nando De Colo came back from injury, but even they can’t save ASVEL from a dreadful farewell season from Europe’s top competition. The numbers tell the story: Villeurbanne ranks last in several statistical categories, including points per game (75.8), assists (15.8), and defensive rebounds (20). They also shoot the worst percentages in the league with 49% from two and 30.8% from deep compared to Hapoel’s 59% and 40.6% (second in the league). These and other gaps amount to a 15-point difference per game and a 19-place gap in the standings.

Hapoel Tel Aviv is a clear favorite to record its 11th EuroLeague win, even with the absences of Bruno Caboclo, Yam Madar (if he doesn’t yet return) and Tomer Ginat. But stranger things have happened.

Worth Watching
There’s a pretty good chance the competitive phase of Thursday’s game could be over even before halftime, given the disparity between the teams. If that’s the case, perhaps we’ll see the first meaningful minutes for Hapoel’s Israelis not named Tomer Ginat. Since Ginat’s injury, the Israeli players (Guy Palatin, Bar Timor and Itay Segev) have logged only 19 total minutes on the court (out of 1,000 available) and contributed just 6 points (out of the team’s 471). Maybe against Villeurbanne we’ll see some Israeli pride, especially after such a disappointing national team window.

Key Threat
There isn’t much on ASVEL’s roster that can seriously threaten Hapoel’s talent except perhaps for one man: Nando De Colo. The veteran point guard is already 38, but based on his play it still seems like he’s being wasted on this French team. After returning from injury last week against Barcelona, he delivered a terrific performance with 22 points, 9 assists while going 12/12 from the free throw line. De Colo shows he still has plenty left in the tank and could be a difference maker for a team that still has something to play for.

Does “Full Confidence” Buy Anything?
Once again, nothing has changed at Maccabi Tel Aviv. The same cart being pushed in opposite directions isn’t moving anywhere. It created plenty of drama many written words, tweeted tweets, meetings that blew up and names tossed around (some more realistic, some less) but at the end of the day Maccabi Tel Aviv began the week with a declaration of full confidence in Oded Katash.

In a week where Ettore Messina, Željko Obradović, and Igor Kokoskov were all dismissed from Milan, Partizan and Anadolu respectively, Katash somehow survived perhaps thanks to Giannis Sfairopoulos’s high salary demands, or perhaps thanks to renewed appreciation from some of Maccabi’s owners after the dreadful performance against Milan. You decide.

With the worst record in the league, not replacing the coach and not reinforcing the roster, it’s hard to believe that with “full confidence” Maccabi will suddenly look any different. Maybe the good news about returning home games will shift the momentum and help the team rise in the standings but I’m doubtful. However, until that happens, they may have to suffer through another tough week, this time with a difficult road game against Žalgiris.

The Lithuanians started the season on fire with a 7–2 record but then lost three straight, the last one to Real Madrid. Last week they bounced back against Baskonia and are currently only one game behind first place. Žalgiris is one of the best defensive teams in the league; the loss to Real was the only game in which they allowed more than 90 points. They also hold opponents to 31% from three which is the lowest in the EuroLeague.

Key players include Sylvain Francisco, Moses Wright, Azuolas Tubelis and Maodo Lo, who are expected to cause plenty of damage against a Maccabi team still missing Jeff Dowtin Jr. but expected to get Jaylen Hoard and TJ Leaf back, along with another shake off the rust session from Iffe Lundberg.

All that’s left to see is whether the full backing for the coach gives Maccabi wings or whether the cracks will begin to show again right after the final buzzer.

Worth Watching
Lonnie Walker was at the center of the Oded Katash saga throughout the past two weeks. From his benching against Virtus that sparked the infamous management meeting and after his 31-point explosion against Hapoel Holonto the Milan game, where he kept Maccabi afloat in the first half but went down with the team in the second. Something seems to have clicked for the yellow-and-blue guard: he showed fighting spirit, energy and leadership that weren’t there before. After saving his coach, he may be the only one who can save Maccabi now in its fractured, depressed state.

Will a heroic performance from him be enough against his former team, Žalgiris? Not likely. But hey what other choice do the yellow-and-blue have?

Key Threat
In the summer of 2022, Maccabi Tel Aviv considered signing a then-semi-unknown player from Manresa, but the deal fell through and after some revolving doors, Sylvain Francisco found himself leading Žalgiris with MVP level play. This is undoubtedly the best season of the French point guard’s career, after his EuroLeague debut with Bayern in 2023. In his second season in Kaunas, he leads the EuroLeague in assists (7.3 per game) and is third in PIR at 21.1 in just 25 minutes per game. Last week Maccabi made Shavon Shields look like Luka Dončić, so who knows what the French national team guard might do to them?

Around the Continent
Among all other Round 14 matchups, the obvious headline game is the clash between red-hot Fenerbahçe (five straight wins) and Olympiacos in Piraeus. But just 15 km away, at the Telecom Center (formerly OAKA) in Athens, we may see an even higher-quality basketball game. On Friday (21:15), Panathinaikos hosts Valencia in a matchup that could easily turn into a EuroLeague classic.