Hapoel Tel Aviv takes on Zalgiris, Tuesday (21:05) at Yad Eliyahu as the Reds will host their first ever Euroleague game on their true home court after having welcomed Red Star Belgrade a couple of weeks ago in a contest that took place in Jerusalem. Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad currently sits atop the standings with a 13-5 record while the Lithuanian’s coached by Tomas Masiulis are 10-8 good for 8th place but have played at only 4-6 over their past ten games which which saw them drop down a number of places after a hot 6-2 start.

While the standings can give one an indication as to how a team is doing and how they are trending, the Reds bench boss doesn’t want to look too deep into where his opponent is sitting, “It’s not about the standings. The standings, if I’m not mistaken, from the first spot to the ninth or tenth spot is a two-win difference. So you can translate the standings this way or the other way. We know that everything is fragile, where really one team to the other is very close. There are details, there are nuances that they make on the defense. We approach this game very serious because Zalgiris has certain qualities and they play to the highest level.”

The Kaunus based team has number of weapons from a very lethal guard trio to solid big men and Itoudis is well aware that Zalgiris won’t be a walk in the park, “They are a very competitive team. They really play to a high level of their tempo, but they do base a lot on their transition game, which is generated by their good defense. They have size, they can play big ball, they can play a small ball. They still have lineups that average, let’s say, over two meters, which makes them big. Obviously the three very creative guards that they have generate a lot, talking about Sylvain Francisco, Nigel Williams-Goss and Maodo Lo. But on the other hand, their bigs, their forwards, they contribute a lot in their game.”

One of the bigs that ca do plenty of damage is Moses Wright who is having a superb season averaging 11.7 points and 5.6 rebounds. The American big man has flourished in Lithuania after two seasons at Olympiacos and Reds center Dan Oturu understands that Wright can cause plenty of problems for Hapoel.

“He’s a great player and we have to match his energy. He is going to come and play hard and myself and our team have to rose to the level that he is going to bring. We know he is a capable player at both ends of the floor and wr haver to do out best to make things harder for him.”

Ish Wainright, who at times will also be charged with stopping Wright knows that Zalgiris as a whole are a dangerous foe, “They’re a great team and everything that they do is dangerous. Transition team, they stop us. They stop the opponents from shooting threes. They’re a great team. Top to bottom, great coaching staff and everything.”

“Coach has been preaching all season that each team and each game presents a different challenge and another challenge awaits us with Zalgiris,” Oturu added. “They are a great team with talented players and well coached, they compete for a full 40 minutes so it’s a challenge that we have to rose to the occasion.”

With five of their next seven games at home form the end of December through the end of January, Hapoel has a very good chance to really pull away at the top of the table so to speak and build a nice cushion between first place and the rest of the pack which was something that some perhaps thought was going to be a real challenge. There were thoughts in the preseason that Hapoel could contend for the title, but really no one was sure what the outcome would be midway through the campaign, Wainright explained.

“Nobody knew. Nobody, I mean, yes, we had high expectations, but nobody, I’m pretty sure everybody in Tel Aviv didn’t know we were gonna do things that we’re doing right now, but we’re competitive and we’re professionals. Of course, that’s our main goal is to be number one in EuroLeague, win EuroLeague, win the championship, same as last year, we won the European Cup.

“We did that and I’m pretty sure I had an interview last year saying this, our main goal is to be number one and to be the best team and to win. That’s gonna continue to be our goal. Even though we’re still in our mindset, we’re still underdogs. You know, a lot of people want to still beat us, but we’re still the underdogs in our mind. So we’re gonna play with a chip on our shoulder and it’s gonna be a dogfight.”

That dogfight will now be in the friendly confines of Yad Eliyahu and the fans are thrilled to see their team back on their home floor in Tel Aviv, but the players including Oturu, are as excited as they are as well, “It’s a blessing and an opportunity to play in our home arena in front of our fans in Tel Aviv and first time in club history. It will be a special moment and we’re excited to go out there and compete.”

“It’s going to be amazing,” Wainright declared with a huge smile. “First Israeli game, a Euroleague Israeli game in Menorah, which is going to be amazing. I’m pretty sure we’re going to pack the house out. I’m pretty sure a lot of people, a lot of fans are gonna show up here in Menorah. So I’m excited.”

Itoudis is also content that the games are back in Israel and that it will also be a big plus to his team and the goals that they have ahead of them, “We were wishing, praying for the games to come back, so hope it’s going to be a full house and the fans will push the team and it’s going to be fun for sure for the team, the players. They need the support and the trust for sure.”