Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv drew to Group D in the 2013-2014 Euroleague Draw, together with Panathinaikos Athens, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade (Red Star), and the team that wins the qualifying round.
By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv drew to Group D in the 2013-2014 Euroleague Draw together with Panathinaikos Athens, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria, Lokomotiv Kuban of Hendrix and Jasaitis, Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade(Red Star), and the team that wins the qualifying round. The teams participating in the qualifying round are: Cimberio Varese, Ewe Baskets Oldenburg (German Championship runner-up) , Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (Lithuanian Championship runner-up), VEF Riga (Latvian Champion), Khimki Moscow Region (Russian Championship semi-finalist), Telenet Ostend (Belgian Champion), CEZ Basketball Nymburk (Chechen Championship runner-up), and Banvit BK Bandira (Turkish Championship runner-up).
Prior to the draw it was revealed that the Euroleague Final Four will be held on May 16-18, 2014 in Milan, Italy. The Euroleague season will begin on October 17, 2013. The complete schedule of games will be published soon.
Schedule
17 October at Laboral
24 October v. Red Star
31 October at Kuban
7 November at Qualifying Team
14 November v. Panathinaikos
21 November v. Laboral
28 November at Red Star
5 December v. Kuban
12 December v. Qualifying Team
19 December at Panathinaikos
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv Head Coach David Blatt: “The Euroleague draw is always an exciting time. We are at a very early stage as the teams are still building themselves for the 2013-14 season. This summer the market has moved more slowly than usual. It is hard to know how strong each team will be, but on paper we see that some attractive teams will come to Nokia Arena this year. The group we were drawn to is very competitive and challenging and includes some arenas that are very tough to play in. To succeed in this group and the entire Euroleague season, we need to build a strong, quality team, and right now we are at the height of that process.”
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv Chairman of the Board Shimon Mizrahi: “If you want to advance to the Top 16, you have to play against top teams like Panathinaikos, Vitoria and all of the tough teams in our group. Of course, it will be very interesting group to play. Our crowd will enjoy great basketball next season. As for our expectations, first of all, we have to focus on being one of the four teams that advance to the Top 16. After that, everything is open.”
Team Manager Nikola Vuj?i?: “It’s not an easy group at all, in fact it looks like one of the most difficult in the draw, but it’s still early. The teams still have not finished putting together their rosters, so it’s impossible to analyze the situation too deeply. What we can tell already is that we will have several difficult journeys ahead of us in every sense of the word. We need to continue to direct all of our energies to building our roster so that it will be as strong and consistent as possible.”
