Last time the two met, Maccabi just came up short 95-94 in a game that was played in Belgrade but that featured Lonnie Walker who is now out of action with a shoulder injury along with a red hot Jeff Dowtin who scored 24 points. Dowtin will be listed to play but it seems that he will not be part of Head Coach Oded Katash\u2019s plans as he works himself back into playing shape after having been out for 6 weeks. The guard had been registered in the Israeli league against Hapoel Holon over the weekend and didn\u2019t play and was also on the Euroleague bench last week against Zalgiris and didn\u2019t see the Yad Eliyahu floor.
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Jeff Dowtin Jr. – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cJeff is a player who shouldn\u2019t play here, only if there\u2019s no choice. But again, bringing in a player who\u2019s coming back from such a long injury into this level of intensity is also not a simple challenge. We\u2019ll want to integrate him as much as possible,\u201d Katahs said. <\/p>\n
The bench boss is fully aware that this will be a big challenge and one that will be a very tough game to come away with the win, \u201cThe challenges we\u2019re dealing with go beyond the professional aspect. It\u2019s about managing a deep roster with constant changes and injuries. Olympiacos, for example, have had their injured players return and are in a much better situation than we are. Still, it\u2019s a challenging one for the medical staff, for Regev Fanan and the physio team. It\u2019s certainly a basketball challenge, but it\u2019s something we have to overcome together as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the players that Maccabi will need to count on to pick up the slack is Jimmy Clark who has started to play his best basketball of his career over the past couple of weeks. The 24-year old guard came over to the yellow-and-blue last season from Bnei Herzliya and slowly but surely has become a player that Katash has been counting on.<\/p>\n
Ever since Iffe Lundberg joined the club, Clark has benefited from playing together with him and by just having his overall calming presence and know how around, especially when it comes to handling the ball, managing the play and closing out the game.
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Jimmy Clark – Photo credit: Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nIn the past three games Clark has scored 15 points and dished out 5 assists against Hapoel Jerusalem, added 17 points and 5 helpers versus Zalgiris and then scored another 17 points and chalked up 8 assists against Hapoel Holon.<\/p>\n
Will Rayman spoke about having Clark on board, \u201cJimmy is a very good player; he arrived last season and keeps improving from game to game. When he plays well, we play well and he needs to keep that going.\u201d<\/p>\n
In essence, Clark has been a catalyst as he continues to improve and mature as a player explained Katash, \u201cI think Jimmy is in the midst of a good period and it\u2019s not just about his points, that\u2019s quite clear. You need to remember he\u2019s a young player with a lot of upside and stability. That\u2019s the key when we talk about Jimmy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another young player who has improved by leaps and bounds is Marcio Santos who has been excellent for Maccabi thus far this season and recognized that he has been taking the next step in his career.
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Marcio Santos – Photo credit: Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cI feel like I am improving and I am learning the system better and the players, I have been here five months and everyone feels better and have been catching up with the coach. Having home games is helping as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Olympiacos, the big man added, \u201cWe know this is a tough opponent that has been playing together for a long time. They have plenty of EuroLeague experience, but we\u2019re improving day by day and we\u2019re coming off a win against Zalgiris.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other side of the court, Bartzokas understands that despite the absence of Lonnie Walker, that Maccabi is still a very dangerous team, \u201cMaccabi is in good momentum. Offensively, they are one of the best teams in the EuroLeague. Defensively, they use a lot of tricks that often confuse the opponent and sometimes even themselves. So our players need to stay committed to the game plan. Offensively, they play in an unusual way, with a lot of short rolls: the centers stay on the perimeter, the power forwards move inside. [Tamir] Blatt\u2019s playmaking is always important. Overall, they are a very distinctive and very dangerous team, especially given the good momentum they have with the way they play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donta Hall, is also concerned about the yellow-and-blue test in front of them, \u201cWe need to keep playing the way we\u2019ve played in the last three games. Against Maccabi, we have to apply pressure on defense for forty minutes and the offense will take care of itself.\u201d
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Will Rayman – Photo credit: Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nAll in all, Rayman knows that Olympiacos will be a big test for Maccabi and one that will be very difficult but with the goal of coming away with the victory, \u201cThey are a very experienced and high-quality team. They\u2019ve been playing together for a long time and are in good form right now. It will be a tough game, but I think we have a solid game plan and a real chance to win. We all remember the previous game against them\u05ea we led by 10 in the fourth quarter and lost. We\u2019ll go there determined to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over in Sofia, Hapoel Tel Aviv<\/strong> is coming into the EFES game with a 15-6 record which places them right at the top of the standings while the Turkish team are all the way down in 18th place with a 6-16 record. But Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis understands that the game will not be walkover by any stretch of the imagination.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s another challenge and we accept it. We need to find a way to be ready for a game against a very competitive team with a lot of skill. They\u2019ve had several injured players, which has affected them in key moments and influenced their recent results. But it\u2019s not only about results, it\u2019s about the quality they have. We\u2019re approaching this game by respecting every aspect of their team: the guards, the bigs, the forwards, their concepts, their structure, and the experience they bring. Overall, it\u2019s going to be a very, very challenging game for us.\u201d Ish Wainright – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div> EFES bench boss Pablo Laso commented on what he sees as a very tough game for his squad, \u201cIt will definitely be a difficult game for us. Hapoel Tel Aviv is currently one of the best teams in the EuroLeague, playing with a lot of quality across their roster. They have a very strong squad, and of course, we all know [Vasilije] Micic from his time at Anadolu Efes, he creates a lot of situations for them with his size, passing and shooting, which helps them on both offense and defense. <\/p>\n \u201cFor us, it\u2019s clear that we can\u2019t just focus on effort. We have to focus on ourselves and on playing good basketball. This is the first message I will give my players: be concerned with how we play as a team. If we don\u2019t play well collectively, we won\u2019t be able to compete against a team with Hapoel Tel Aviv\u2019s quality.\u201d<\/p>\n Nick Weiler-Babb also chimed in, \u201cHapoel Tel Aviv is in a great shape and is playing good basketball right now. We need to show a response to the past week, and that starts from the beginning of the game. It\u2019s the first game to another double week so we need to set the tone early. The game will be tough, but we are ready!\u201d Idan Zalmanson – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div> Yair Kravitz\u2019s participation in the game is doubtful and will be decided only shortly before tip-off following a fitness test while Derrick Walton Jr. is expected to be fit for the game after not playing against Maccabi Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are excited ahead of the start of the BCL Top 16 stage,\u201d Shamir said. \u201cWe are coming into a game against a good team that is in good form. We have done our preparations, studied the opponent, and we want to open this stage with a win that will give us a good boost going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the team\u2019s new recruit, Shamir added, \u201cWe are very happy about Adama joining the team. He is a player who brings a lot of physicality and energy under the basket on both ends of the court. His impressive college career testifies to his winning mentality and toughness, which will help us face the challenges that await us this season.\u201d Khadeen Carrington – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div> There is plenty of European basketball action coming up on Tuesday evening as Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Olympiacos in Piraeus on Tuesday (19:15) while Hapoel Tel Aviv plays Anadolu EFES (19:30) in a home game that will take place in Sofia due to the ongoing relationship issues between Israel and Turkey in Euroleague action. Hapoel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":168361,"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":[6272,4],"class_list":["post-168359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-jimmy-clark","tag-maccabi-tel-aviv","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nIsh Wainright shared his thoughts on the game, \u201cThey have great players and a great coaching staff, so anything can happen. It\u2019s going to be a dogfight from the opening tip. Much respect to those guys and we have two players on our team who are looking forward to facing their former club. It\u2019ll be a battle from start to finish and we\u2019ll have to keep competing until the final buzzer.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nHapoel Holon begins their Champions League Round of 16 journey<\/strong> with a tough game at Rytas, however, head coach Yoav Shamir will have a new center with the squad in Adama Sanogo who arrives from their last opponent, Trapani. Idan Zalmanson, who was injured in the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, joined the team on a separate flight and arrived a day later than the rest of the team for the contest as he underwent an ankle X-ray that ruled out a fracture and the hope is that he will be able to take part in the game.<\/p>\n
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\nHapoel Jerusalem<\/strong> will look to take one more step in wrapping up first place overall as they enter the Besiktas game in first place in Group A with a 12-2 record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"