Maccabi Tel Aviv looked like a team on a mission against Armani Milano, picking up its first EuroLeague win of the season, 97-79 to send the Italians home empty-handed from the yellow-and-blue\u2019s temporary abode in Belgrade.<\/p>\n
Everything went right for Maccabi on this night.<\/p>\n
They played with energy, aggression, intensity and confidence, clearly understanding that Milano was there for the taking. And Maccabi took full advantage. They pounded the ball inside, knocked down shots from the outside and, for the most part, did exactly what head coach Oded Katash asked of them.<\/p>\n
In many ways, Katash\u2019s philosophy of \u201cless is more\u201d worked to perfection.<\/p>\n
It was crystal clear from the opening tip that Maccabi understood the situation it was in. After starting the EuroLeague campaign 0-3, the yellow-and-blue needed that first win now, before the season began to resemble last year\u2019s campaign, when they dug themselves into a massive hole and ultimately fell short of the postseason.<\/p>\n
A repeat of that scenario is certainly not what Katash wants and while one win over Milano hardly changes everything, it is an important first step toward making sure Maccabi doesn\u2019t have to climb out of another deep hole.<\/p>\n
Katash leaned heavily on his starters, with four players logging roughly 25 minutes apiece, while still getting valuable contributions from the bench. All 12 players saw action over the course of the game, allowing Maccabi to spread the workload while maintaining the intensity that carried them to victory.<\/p>\n
Yam Madar played his role to perfection and earned MVP honors. Jaylen Hoard was active all over the floor, scoring inside while contributing rebounds and assists. Roman Sorkin, meanwhile, needed only 11 minutes to score a tidy 12 points.<\/p>\n
Then there was Bonzie Colson, who scored 13 points in 17 minutes, with the majority of his production coming early in the fourth quarter when Maccabi put the game out of reach.<\/p>\n
Keaton Wallace and Jimmy Clark chipped in as well, Iffe Lundberg knocked down a pair of triples and perhaps most importantly, Daniel Theis was active and agile during the first half, giving Maccabi exactly what it needed when it needed it most.<\/p>\n
The numbers also told the story.<\/p>\n
Maccabi recorded 12 steals as its aggressive defense forced Milano into 15 turnovers, while the yellow-and-blue committed just eight. That was especially significant considering Maccabi had turned the ball over 20, 12 and 16 times in its first three games.<\/p>\n
Eight turnovers was a welcome sight.<\/p>\n
Once again, less was more.<\/p>\n
Offensively, Maccabi shot a respectable 9-of-24 from three-point range, good for 37.5%, while doing most of its damage inside the arc, where it went an impressive 27-of-32, or 69.2%. The 16-of-22 mark from the free-throw line left something to be desired, but overall, this was one heck of a performance from the yellow-and-blue.<\/p>\n
There was no doubt that Maccabi also rode the momentum from its Super Cup victory over Hapoel Jerusalem into Belgrade.<\/p>\n
But while the win is a major positive, Maccabi is hardly out of the woods.<\/p>\n
A Spanish double week awaits, with road games at Barcelona and Valencia. Neither will be easy.<\/p>\n
The Palau Blaugrana has never been a friendly venue for Maccabi, while Valencia\u2019s brand-new Roig Arena is already proving to be a difficult place to play. Xavier Albert\u2019s squad sits at a perfect 3-0 and will provide another stern test.<\/p>\n
The question now is simple: Can Maccabi play in Spain the way it played against Milano?<\/p>\n
The answer should be yes.<\/p>\n
This team showed its critics that when it is fully focused and locked into the mission at hand, it can play some very good basketball. The offense flows, the defense is tough as nails and everything seems to click exactly as Katash drew it up.<\/p>\n
His game plan was spot on against Milano.<\/p>\n
Now comes the challenge of replicating it on the road in Spain.<\/p>\n
Before that, however, Maccabi will open its Israeli league campaign at home against Hapoel Galil Elyon, with EuroLeague CEO Chus Bueno and Chief Basketball Operations Officer Diego Guillen expected to be in attendance as they assess the situation on the ground and the possibility of bringing EuroLeague basketball back to the Holy Land.<\/p>\n
The current expectation is that Maccabi\u2019s home games, which have been played in Belgrade, could move to Cyprus before eventually returning to Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n
How quickly that happens? At this point, perhaps only Donald Trump knows.<\/p>\n
The EuroLeague certainly doesn\u2019t appear to be in a rush, even as games have already returned to the Coca-Cola Arena in the UAE for Dubai.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Maccabi needs to get back home.<\/p>\n
Playing in front of more than 10,000 passionate supporters every night can provide the yellow-and-blue with an entirely different level of energy. That intensity from the stands can translate directly onto the court, giving the players that extra push to do what needs to be done.<\/p>\n
And if Maccabi has serious designs on reaching the postseason, it may very well need that home-court boost.<\/p>\n
For now, though, the formula is pretty simple.<\/p>\n
Keep playing the way Maccabi did against Milano, and the wins will come.<\/p>\n
And when those games finally return to Israel, the yellow-and-blue can hopefully use home and its passionate supporters, as the stepping stone to the promised land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Maccabi Tel Aviv looked like a team on a mission against Armani Milano, picking up its first EuroLeague win of the season, 97-79 to send the Italians home empty-handed from the yellow-and-blue\u2019s temporary abode in Belgrade. Everything went right for Maccabi on this night. They played with energy, aggression, intensity and confidence, clearly understanding that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":193114,"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":[3,4],"class_list":["post-193106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-euroleague","tag-maccabi-tel-aviv","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n