Maccabi Tel Aviv welcomes Zalgiris back to Israel as they play a Euroleague Gameday 22 on Thursday (21:05). The yellow-and-blue will look to get back onto the winning track after having lost their last three games in continental competition as their record dropped to 8-13 and sit in 14th place.

The Lithuanian squad was in the Holy Land just a couple of weeks ago and came away with a 93-80 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv and would like to replicate that success after splitting their last two Euroleague games and now sport a 12-9 record good for 9th place.

Zalgiris, who is led by Tomas Masiulis is having a very good first year run as the club’s head coach after having served as an assistant under Saras Jasikevicius at both Barcelona and Fenerbahce where he was part of the staff that helped win the Euroleague title last season. Masiulis’s squad doesn’t have a superstar per se but a group of solid veterans who understand their roles and what needs to be done in order to stay in the playoff hunt.

One of those players is Maodo Lo.

The 33-year old guard has played for a number of European clubs that have played at the highest of levels including ALBA Berlin, Bayern Munich, Milano and Paris before joining Zalgiris. Lo was also a member of the Germany 2023 World Cup Championship squad as well as national team that also captured the 2025 Eurobasket. However, Lo, who is originally from Germany played his college ball at Columbia University in the Ivy League and began his professional career at Bamberg where he spent two seasons between 2016-2018.

Following Zalgiris’s victory against Hapoel Tel Aviv, The Sports Rabbi spoke with Lo about the club’s season to date along with what the goals are ahead plus we talked about playing Maccabi once again after having lost at home by a substantial margin, 83-65.

“They really beat us badly,” Lo began, reflecting back to the last time the two sides played. “It’s going to be a tough game against them here on their home court, with their fans behind them, so it’s going to be difficult.”

Zalgiris began the season very well with a fantastic 6-2 start, but then went 4-6 and are now 2-1 in their last three games. Lo and his squad want to get back to piling up the wins but understands that there is a very long season to go, “Hopefully, that’s the goal. Just keep going. In the EuroLeague, momentum and runs are really what it’s all about. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Alongside Lo, there are a number of stellar guards including Nigel Williams-Goss and Sylvan Francisco which creates problems for the opposition, “It’s going to make the playmaking easier for the team to have multiple ball handlers on the floor the majority of the time. It’s going to make it difficult for teams to press us. Any of us players can start to dominate the game and make a difference.”

Big man Moses Wright brings plenty of size and inside play which a guard like Lo relishes because of how skilled he can be in the paint and provides a nice target for the guards, “He has great leaping ability. He’s a lob threat, so he’s able to be effective in that way. He can grab offensive rebounds. He’s physical, athletic and strong.”

Coach Masiulis had a great game plan for the win over Hapoel Tel Aviv and will no doubt look to make corrections as to how Zalgiris played when they lost to Maccabi. Lo explained what the former Lithuanian star brings to the table, “He just has a great game plan and he’s implementing his ideas, his philosophies. You can see his influence in the coaching. He has strong ideas about how he wants to play and as a team we try to adapt, keep growing and find ways to execute.”

The Zalgirio Arena is one of the great places to play and always has an incredible atmosphere for the players to perform in, “It’s a crazy fan base, they love basketball. It’s great passion. You see it every game, they’re there to support. It’s pretty impressive.”

It’s not common for a player out of the Ivy League to have the career that Lo has had to date as he spoke about what it took for him to reach the level that he has.

“Honestly, I just went day by day. I wasn’t really sure. Up to the point when I played college, I didn’t even know where this basketball journey was going to take me. I didn’t know if professional basketball was in store for me. Somehow, you just keep going, keep building, keep getting better, keep growing confidence and then you start developing into a player who can play professionally at the highest level. The passion carried me, passion and love for basketball.

As for where he thinks the season can take them, Lo knows that the possibilities are endless, “Anywhere. It depends on how the cards fall, how well we keep coming together and improving. Anything can happen. We just try to keep getting better, keep building, catch certain runs, rhythm, momentum, winning streaks, anything is possible.”

With anything possible, does that mean he can see himself hoisting up the Euroleague trophy with Zalgiris being crowned as the champions of Europe?

“That would be great. That would be amazing. Everyone is competing to be on top. That would be special.”