One bright spot from the loss yesterday to Olimpia Milano was the level Derrick Williams has shown in the second half, scoring 19 points and four three-pointers.
James Nunnally, Jalen Reynolds, and Mathias Lessort have also scored in double figures and will, of course, be available to coach Giannis Sfairopoulos.

The French champions are considered the surprise of the Euroleague so far, with a perfect record of 3 wins and zero losses. They stunned the European titleholders Anadolu Efes at home, coming back from a 19-point deficit to a 75:73 win. Chris Jones, who played for Maccabi last season, averages 18 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per evening for Villeurbanne.

“We are going to play a very important game for us” coach Giannis Sfairopoulos said at the end of the practice in France. “We will play against a team that has three wins and is playing very well, especially here in its home court. They have a good offensive rithem and are in positive momentum. We need to be focused, stick to our game plan and play like in the second half of the previous game”.

“We need to learn from the game in Milan”, clarified Angelo Cloiaro, who has started in two of the three Euroleague games so far this season. “The first half was awful, the second half is the one we have to keep building on. If we can play again like we did in the second half there, we will have a very good chance this time”.

Maccabi’s short history against Villeurbanne in the Euroleague includes only five meetings: in the first three, the yellows won, while the French team won the last two. The first encounter in November 2004 is the most remembered one because of the historical performance Anthony Parker displayed. The American guard then scored 33 points without taking a single three-pointer, setting an index of 47 – a record for a Maccabi player in the competition.