Alba Berlin 
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv Alba Berlin
Made/Att
Made/Att
Made/Att
DEF OFF TOT
CM RV
FV AG
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv
Made/Att
Made/Att
Made/Att
DEF OFF TOT
CM RV
FV AG
Thursday at 21:00: ALBA Berlin - Maccabi
The Yellow & Blue had their final practice in Tel Aviv before departing to Germany. A thousand Maccabi fans will support the squad in the German capital, Sfairopoulos: "They are helping us in a significant way, They will be our sixth player even on an away game"
This game will start the second half of the regular season, as the two teams met on round 7 in Tel Aviv, where the Yellow & Blue won in convincing fashion 104:78 in front of the Maccabi fans. Talking about the supporters, a thousand of them will come out to Berlin to support their squad, as the fan organization “The Gate” said towards the game: “We want to create a unique atmosphere. We will meet up around 17:30 at the Stralauer Platz close to the parking area of the Berlin Ostbahnhof, and from there, we will march towards the arena”.
“This isn’t the moment to self criticize, we are in the middle of the year, and if you start analyzing what happened so far, we will lose the next battle”, Said head coach Giannis Sfairopoulos about analyzing the first round. “We let others talk about how we’ve done, the most important thing for us is to focus one game at a time”.
The differences between the two rounds: “Not only teams know each other more going into the second round, in a league like the EuroLeague you have high-level games with very good teams. In an extended period, the team’s stance changes, once you can face them in their peek, and the next time, you can meet them in the exact opposite position, and that’s normal in such a long season. This game is entirely different from the first round, we told the players not to think it will be easy because it won’t, we need to fight hard on the court to get the win because Alba is a good team, especially at their home court”.
About Jackson and Reynolds: “They are still newcomers, they are only ten days with us. They don’t participate in the Israeli league, so they can’t have more games to adjust to the system, but they are in a much better situation than the previous game. Every week they’ll be with us they’ll get better and better, that’s logical and normal”.
“Now this period is better for us, as long as we get the injured players back and the newcomers get into the team, we have more solutions, and this is really important. The primary goal is to win the games, secondary is to get everybody under our system. Will Nate Wolters play? I believe he will”.
Coach also responded about the high amount of fans joining the squad this week: “I believe that any club can be champions in whatever league they play if you have a strong fan base. Before I came here, I knew Maccabi is that type of club, with a lot of fans that support the team. They are helping us in a significant way, we are thankful to them and happy they will be with us. They will be our sixth player even on an away game”.
“It was a good start, but we are only halfway through”, Emphasized Quincy Acy about the first half of the season. “That was a good foundation to build on, but we need to keep growing from here. Alba is going to come out hard, ready to win. Everything is going to be tough from here on out. Jackson is a great playmaker, a veteran, and we only got one game under our belt. I played one game against him in China, so I knew what he is capable of, another talent added to the team
“I think the attention to detail and our focus needs to be very well. We need to come ready and excited to play”, Told Elijah Bryant towards the matchup. “As long as we have five players, we can play as a team, so whoever is on the court that’s the team we have. However, we are definitely excited to have guys come back and help us on the floor. I know there are a lot of fans coming with us, so I’m excited”.
Maccabi beats ALBA Berlin 95:89
Behind a thousand roaring Yellow & Blue fans in the crowd, Maccabi heads back to Israel with a W, ramping up their record to 12:6. Bryant stood out with a career-high 19 point & 8 rebounds, Reynolds added 17 points and 7 rebounds
After losing the past two EuroLeague games, Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv get back on track with the start of the second round in the EuroLeague, beating ALBA Berlin on the road, 95:89. Elijah Bryant drained a career-high 5 3’s scoring 19 points while adding 8 rebounds as Jalen Reynolds excelled with 17 points and 7 rebounds for Giannis Sfairopoulos’s 100th career EuroLeague win.
Maccabi opened the contest with Scottie Wilbekin, Yovel Zoosman, Elijah Bryant, Quincy Acy, and Othello Hunter. The defenses in the first quarter weren’t existent as Maccabi’s offense clicked from the get-go. Bryant had the hot hand early, scoring 8 of the visitor’s first 12 points to tie it up at 12:12. Deni Avdija came off the bench and scored 8 straight points to give the Yellow & Blue a minimal 31:28 lead after the first ten minutes.
The Yellow & Blue started the second quarter hot going on a 10:0 run behind Reynolds and Tyler Dorsey, who each scored twice that gave the visitors a double-digit advantage, 41:29. However, the home squad responded with 10 unanswered points to cut the lead down to 2. Bryant’s fourth three-pointer of the first half and a total of 14 points secured his team would go down at the half with a lead, giving Maccabi a 50:45 edge at the break.
Bryant picked up where he left off with another shot from deep to start the second half, as the Yellow & Blue were able to increase the lead to 15 with two straight Jake Cohen’s threes after assists by Jalen Reynolds. In the final minutes of the third, ALBA was able to reduce the lead scoring 9 consecutive points, but Tyler Dorsey drained his first shot from deep to stop the run that granted the visitors an 8 point lead going into the final quarter, 72:64.
Dorsey found Cohen, who restored the double-digit advantage with a slam. Marcus Erickson was able to reduce the lead down to 6, however, Wilbekin hit a three midway through the quarter to ramp up the advantage, 79:70. The hosts kept answering, with 24 seconds left, Hermannsson closed a 9:0 run with a triple that made it 90:86. Sfairopoulos’s players stood under pressure, Acy and Hunter were accurate from the free-throw line to close the deal, as Maccabi beats ALBA Berlin 95:89.
