Maccabi Tel Aviv looks to bounce back against Belgrade
After tasting defeat for the first time this season, Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Neven Spahija is hoping for a better team performance on Thursday night when the yellow-and-blue visits Red Star Belgrade in Euroleague action.
Maccabi will be playing for the second time in three days after suffering a 69-68 loss to Olympiacos at Yad Eliyahu Arena on Tuesday night.
Norris Cole had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but his shot went off the rim and Maccabi dropped to its first defeat of 2017/18 after opening its season with five straight wins over all competitions, including two in a row in the Euroleague.
Spahija was pleased with the intensity and commitment displayed by his players, but expects his team to be better on the offensive end after registering a total of nine assists and hitting only 3-of-15 threepoint shots.
“I think Olympiacos is more of a team than us right now. I see that on small details. To play together, to recognize each other, to be with the same coach, it’s a big advantage. They were the best team we played against until now,” explained the Croatian. “We just needed to play better offense. We need to be better decision makers. We need to share the ball. I will not accept nine assists.
“In the game in Bamberg, Pierre Jackson had nine assists by himself and tonight we had nine the whole team. We took too many contested shots. If you want to win against Olympiacos, you have to play better, very simple.”
Spahjia was confident the setback will only help his team in the long run.
“Games like this are going to make us better,” he said. “Offensively we have a lot of individual talent and sometimes instead of making the extra pass the player takes a shot. We need to be more disciplined. We just need more time. It is not that someone doesn’t respect the system, the coach or his teammates. We will be ready for Red Star.”
Belgrade fell to 1-2 on Tuesday, losing 85-78 at Khimki Moscow.
Despite having one of the lowest budgets in the competition, Red Star finished last season with a 16-14 record and just missed out on a place in the playoffs, mainly due to its excellent play at home. Red Star beat Spanish powerhouse Barcelona in its first Euroleague game of the season at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall last Friday.
“We have a much smaller budget than others, but showed we can play with everyone, especially when we play at home,” said coach Dusan Alimpijevic following the loss in Moscow. “Our chances are bigger at home, of course.” MACCABI TEL AVIV forward DeShaun Thomas hopes to bounce back from his two-point performance in the defeat to Olympiacos on Tuesday when the yellow-and-blue visits Red Star Belgrade in Euroleague action tonight.