\nAfter the recent loss to Fenerbah\u00e7e, Hapoel Tel Aviv showed tremendous character and clutch shooting in the derby, overcoming an excellent night from Roman Sorkin with a fantastic finish. They proved yet again that when their stars heat up and the 3\u2019s begin to fall, no one can keep up with their pace.<\/p>\n
But the Reds don\u2019t have much time to rest on their laurels, because on Thursday awaits a very tough away game against Armani Milano. The fashion-capital team recorded its fourth consecutive win last Friday after surviving a thriller against Olympiacos (which kept Hapoel Tel Aviv on top of the standings).<\/p>\n
The Italians are playing fast, fluid, versatile basketball despite significant injuries and missing, besides familiar faces like Lorenzo Brown and Josh Nebo, their top scorers Shavon Shields (expected to return) and Zach LeDay. It\u2019s still unclear who will be back for the matchup with the EuroLeague leaders, but Ettore Messina\u2019s squad has plenty of players able to step up.<\/p>\n
British guard Kevin Ellis and Armoni Brooks have taken charge, leading Milan to a dream double-week: 29 points, 16 assists, and a PIR of 35 against ASVEL, and then 31 points, 8 assists, and a PIR of 39 against the team that held Hapoel to just 58 points. Alongside them are, of course, Bolmaro, Ricci, Guduric and Devin Booker (not the one from Phoenix), all contributing to Milan\u2019s 7th-place standing with basketball that\u2019s both attractive and effective, often against deeper, more talented teams, which is a fitting description of Itoudis\u2019s side.
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/IMG_20240618_015253_258.jpg\")
Josh Nebo – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div> His averages are excellent: 14.7 points, 5.7 rebounds (EuroLeague leader among guards), 3.4 assists, and a 20.4 PIR (5th in the EuroLeague). He leads the Reds in scoring and rebounding (!), is second in assists and steals, and does all this next to one of the league\u2019s most dominant guards. With Micic showing inconsistency in recent rounds, Bryant has become the go-to guy, putting up numbers that wouldn\u2019t embarrass LeBron James. Will he continue this explosion against Milan? If he does, Coach Messina has a problem. Elijah Bryant – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div> Maybe the third time<\/strong> Despite the encouragement from the last two games, the standings remain bleak, the roster remains unbalanced and unstable and the mood around the team is cloudy fitting for 18th place in the EuroLeague.<\/p>\n Maccabi knows that to climb the standings, you must beat teams above you and Friday\u2019s matchup in Bologna is an excellent opportunity to create their first winning streak on their third attempt. The law-enforcement statements about game time and location aren\u2019t the only unstable thing in the city of Bolognese sauce; on the one hand, Virtus has managed to beat and hold Monaco, Panathinaikos and Real Madrid under 75 points, but on the other hand looked bad in losses to Bayern and Baskonia.<\/p>\n Dusko Ivanovic\u2019s team is in poor form with only one win in their last five games and they will try to recover against Maccabi\u2019s defense, which still holds the dubious title of worst defense in the competition heading into Round 12. Oded Katash – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div> Maccabi also has Brissett, Santos, and Gur Lavi with some contributing more, some less. This abundance of bigs gives them a size advantage, helps create mismatches and adds quality minutes while Niang and Jaiteh catch their breath on the bench. If they can also hit some shots from deep, all the better.<\/p>\n Weak spot<\/strong> In their five wins: 23.4 points per game (15.6 attempts) Maccabi Tel Aviv knows Edwards will shoot a lot on Friday night; they just need to make sure he doesn\u2019t heat up too much. Will Rayman, that\u2019s going to be your mission. Will Rayman – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div> Zeljko Obradovic – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Israeli teams from Tel Aviv travel for road games against the Italian sides from Milan and Bologna, hoping for a pair of victories. Here\u2019s everything you need to know ahead of EuroLeague Gameday 12. We\u2019ve barely recovered from the incredible derby which ended in an 85-80 win for Hapoel Tel Aviv and already the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":162606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3,97,4],"class_list":["post-162649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-euroleague","tag-hapoel-tel-aviv","tag-maccabi-tel-aviv","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nWorth a look<\/strong>
\nIf a global pandemic were to abruptly stop the season after 11 games, there\u2019d be a solid case for Elijah Bryant to be named EuroLeague MVP. Hear me out: the guard, who also owns an NBA championship ring, is putting up tremendous numbers and is everywhere on the floor for the league leaders.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_9954.jpeg\")
\nWeak spot<\/strong>
\nIn their last four games, Armani Milan have been running in more ways than one. It\u2019s clear to the naked eye that Ellis, Brooks, and Leandro Bolmaro are fast players who know how to push the pace and attack the rim. The numbers show that during their current winning streak, with these speedsters leading the offense, Milan averages nearly 10 fast-break points per game, compared to 5.25 by the Reds\u2014almost double. Hapoel is not exactly known across the continent for disciplined defensive transition and they\u2019ll have to be extremely careful with Milan\u2019s fast breaks.<\/p>\n
\nOne cannot say that Maccabi Tel Aviv\u2019s win over Baskonia suddenly sent the fans dreaming of a EuroLeague playoff, but the team is definitely showing signs of life. The Yellow-and-Blues played three and a half quarters of organized, methodical, correct basketball in the derby until Antonio Blakeney entered his red zone and erased Roman Sorkin\u2019s monster performance in the paint.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_9617.jpeg\")
\nWorth a look<\/strong>
\nMaccabi Tel Aviv doesn\u2019t have a center but it does have six power forwards, so it puts three on the court and hopes nobody notices. Defensively it\u2019s hit-and-miss, but offensively it works great. Sorkin, Hoard and Leaf feasted on Baskonia\u2019s pale front-court with 49 points, 27 rebounds (12 offensive) and 8 assists.<\/p>\n
\nThe ultimate barometer for Virtus is their combo guard Carsen Edwards (27) small in height (1.80), but not in impact. He doesn\u2019t hesitate to take over games, averaging 15 field-goal attempts per game, second in the EuroLeague only to Nadir Hifi of Paris. His numbers often tell the story of Virtus\u2019s season:<\/p>\n
\nIn their six losses: 12.3 points (14.5 attempts)<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_8765.jpeg\")
\nOutside of Israel <\/strong>
\nIf you\u2019re craving more heated games featuring Fenerbah\u00e7e, on Friday at 22:00 they\u2019ll visit the Belgrade Arena to face Partizan Belgrade, coached by former Fener legend \u017deljko Obradovi\u0107, in what might be the hottest game yet. The hosts come in tense after a loss to last-place ASVEL, which dropped them to 17th. On the program will be 20,000 Serbian fans, low scoring, elbows, fouls and screaming. In short: madness.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_3662.jpeg\")