A win tonight (20:45) ove Ulker and a loss for Real, will place Maccabi on top of Group E with home advantage vs Olympiacos.
Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv practiced last night at the Abdi Ipekci Arena in Istanbul ahead of the game vs Ulker on the last day of the Top 16 to be played tonight. All games will start at 20:45 Israel time. Maccabi have already assured their place in playoff quarter finals. But to gain top place in Group E and have the home advantage vs Olympiacos, Maccabi have to win in Istanbul and hope that Real Madrid lose in Bologna vs Climamio. If the Spaniards win, Maccabi will have to win by more than 18 points to claim top place. A loss will send Maccabi to face Winterthur Barcelona with the Catalans enjoying the home advantage Ulker have lost any chance to qualify and will face Maccabi without one of their leading players, Marcus Haislip, who returned to the US. In their 74-84 defeat in Tel Aviv, Haislip scored 14 pts and pulled down 11 rbds. The team also lost this week their head coach Ergin Ataman, who resigned on personal reasons to be replaced by his assistant Murat Ozyer. Maccabi have won 11 of their 14 games vs Ulker. Last season Maccabi won in Istanbul 83-67. The two last teams to play in the quarter finals were decided last night -Panathinaikos & Efes Pilsen. The Greeks beat Benetton Treviso 81-70 and so David Blatt`s team was elimoinated. Efes Pilsen won in Zagreb 84-77 vs Cibona.
