Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv finished the Top 16 in third place in Group E and will face Turkish club Fenerbah?e Ulker (second place in Group F) in a best of five quarterfinals series. The first game is this Tuesday, in Istanbul.
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By Amy Samin
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv finished the Top 16 in third place in Group E and will face Turkish club Fenerbahçe Ulker (second place in Group F) in a best of five quarterfinals series. The first game is this Tuesday, in Istanbul. This is the sixth time in a row that the reigning Euroleague champs have qualified for the quarterfinals, and the tenth time in the last eleven years.
Maccabi made sure that the team would not play on the eves of Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers by requesting certain dates from the Euroleague in advance. But with no other option, the yellows will play Game 4 (if needed) on the eve of Israel’s Independence Day.
Below is the complete schedule of games for the series between Maccabi and Fenerbahçe (times are the same in Israel and Turkey):
Game 1: Tuesday April 14 at 9:00 pm in Istanbul
Game 2: Thursday April 16 at 9:00 pm in Istanbul
Game 3: Monday April 20 at 9:05 pm in Tel Aviv
Game 4: Wednesday April 22 at 9:05 in Tel Aviv (if needed)
Game 5: Tuesday April 28 at 8:00 pm in Istanbul (if needed)
Game 2: Thursday April 16 at 9:00 pm in Istanbul
Game 3: Monday April 20 at 9:05 pm in Tel Aviv
Game 4: Wednesday April 22 at 9:05 in Tel Aviv (if needed)
Game 5: Tuesday April 28 at 8:00 pm in Istanbul (if needed)
Tickets (included in the season ticket package) for the third game in the series, and the first to take place in Menora Mivtachim Arena, will go on sale to Maccabist VIP members starting at 20:00 on Saturday night (after Shabbat). Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 9:00 on Sunday.
So, who is Fenerbahçe Ulker, model 2015?
The head coach of Fenerbahçe Ulker is none other than ?eljko Obradovi?, one of the greatest coaches of all time in European basketball, who has met Maccabi before in the quarterfinals. The top players on the Turkish squad are American Andrew Goudelock (who has already broken a three point record in the Euroleague), Jan Vesely (formerly of the Washington Wizards and the Denver Nuggets), Nemanja Bjelica (familiar to Maccabi fans from his time at Caja Laboral), and the young Serbian talent Bogdan Boganovic (formerly a star with Partizan Belgrade).
Until recently, another standout on Fenerbahçe Ulker was former Maccabi player Ricky Hickman, but the guard received a season-ending injury two weeks ago. The Turks hold their home games in the new Ulker Arena, which is expected to be filled to its 13,000-seat capacity.
