Maccabi Tel Aviv confident heading into Euroleague playoffs

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Killer B’s are back and better than ever, as Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin have hit their stride just in time for what should be a rock ’em, sock ’em quarterfinal series against Panathinaikos, with the winner heading to May’s Euroleague Final Four in Berlin.

The yellow-and-blue notched a playoff spot for the fourth time in five seasons and the second in a row under coach Oded Katash, who has proven once again to be a player’s coach and one who understands the intricacies of taking a team to the Promised Land.

After finishing the regular season with a 20-14 record - good for seventh place overall - Maccabi was forced to take part in the Play In game against Baskonia to get into the playoffs. However, that didn’t seem to matter to this group of guys, as they crushed the Spaniards to punch their ticket to what will be yet another classic quarterfinal series against Panathinaikos.

Heading into the Baskonia matchup, there were certainly plenty of questions surrounding Maccabi Tel Aviv. From how to stop the stealth Markus Howard, to how healthy Brown is, to Baldwin arriving in Belgrade late due to a bureaucratic issue with his son’s passport, not to mention the hundreds of missiles and drones that were launched by Iran at the Jewish State.

Still, Maccabi is in Athens with a full roster and ready to tackle Panathinaikos.

“Wade means a lot to this team,” Katash commented. “We can talk a lot about Wade and Lorenzo and we can add Bonzie Colson and Josh Nebo that continued with the team from last year, they are the heart of the team and Wade is great for us. He is a leader for us on and off of the court. Nothing has been easy for us this year, including the last three days to prepare for this type of game. But maybe we are used to it already, to play under these circumstances and we showed a lot of character which is an achievement for us which makes it even more special than last year because of the situation.”

Team unity through challenges

Baldwin also recognized the challenges that the team had experienced since the weekend while praising the Israel Defense Forces.

“We had another 48 hours that’s been crazy. First and foremost we want to shout out to Israel and the defense system that is protecting us as players and getting out here and dealing with the circumstances. Our team really appreciates the support that we get from our country and from our fans. This was a team win from everybody, we were locked in and focused and left all of the distractions away and we were able to play a very good game.”The yellow-and-blue had plenty of excuses had the Play In game not go their way and in fact they have a thousand reasons why the season could have ended in disaster.

But not this team. The players and coaches have stuck together from beginning to end to get to this point, just as they did last season when they played an all-out stellar series against Monaco which they ended up losing in heartbreaking fashion in five games.

That is one massive advantage Katash and Maccabi will have over Panathinaikos, as the core of the yellow-and-blue have already been through a payoff series together, whereas Ergin Ataman’s squad have not.

In reality, Pana is where Maccabi was last season, but it does have home-court advantage and the decisive fifth game - should the series get there will be played at a hopping 20,000-seat OAKA Arena in Athens.

But there is plenty of time until Maccabi would even get to a fifth game with the dynamic duo of Brown and Baldwin back playing their best basketball.

Both guards came out flying against Baskonia and set the tone early on, so much so that the game was pretty much done before the first quarter had come to an end.

With Brown going 7-of-8 from beyond the arc and scoring 29 points to Baldwin’s all-around performance that ended with 26 points, it was game, set and match.

Forward Antonius Cleveland also chimed in about shutting down Baskonia.

“[It was a] total team effort from every player that stepped foot on the court. We came out and executed the game plan and we had fun most importantly and the scoreboard showed that.”

Maccabi has no doubt been through a lot this year, with having to play Euroleague “home” games in Belgrade after the assault on Israel on October 7 as well as the Iranian attack that took place between last Saturday night and Sunday morning. It took the players some time to adjust, but adjust they did both back in October as well as in the couple of days before the crucial Play In contest vs Baskonia.

All season has been one big adjustment and changes on the fly for Maccabi, and Katash has been the glue that has kept the squad together. For that he deserves a tremendous amount of credit.

Who in the world thought Maccabi would be where it is now, just a little over half a year ago? Katash has been a miracle worker and should be commended and recognized for the work he has done with this team.

However, not being considered for the continental coach of the season is not something that Katash is even thinking about.

“It doesn’t really bother me and I am really proud. We know what crazy circumstances we had and from which we found a way to fight and compete and to get the results. I’m not really thinking about myself, but of the players and the organization who I am really happy for. We made people in Israel very happy so I’m not thinking about an individual award.”

Now the story shifts to Greece, where Panathinaikos will give Maccabi everything and more that it can handle.Although the yellow-and-blue beat PAO in both meetings this season, those games have to be taken with a grain of salt. The first meeting took place in October at OAKA in a game that Maccabi was absolutely flying and started to run away with until Ataman’s squad sent it into overtime where Maccabi ultimately had the upper hand.

The second game between the two took place in January at Pionir Arena in Belgrade and Panathinaikos did not have its pair of point guards in superstar Kostas Sloukas and Luca Vildozza, who were both injured.

Baldwin is confident that Maccabi is up for what will surely be an enormous challenge.

“We are going to the belly of the beast,” Baldwin enthusiastically said. “It’s a Greek atmosphere that’s one of the tops in Europe. We got to be ready and we will talk a week to prepare for Panathinaikos and it will be a great matchup with two very good teams and we will see how it will play out.”

Games 1 and 2 will be on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, in Athens while Game 3 and, if necessary, Game 4 will be in Belgrade the following week on Tuesday and Thursday. If there will be a need for a Game 5, that is slated for Wednesday, May 8 back at OAKA.

The history of the two teams is intertwined and has been for years. From Katash having once been a star player for both teams, including winning the Euroleague championship for Panathinaikos over Maccabi, to having recently been the Greek club’s head coach and now in charge of the yellow-and-blue, the storylines are oozing with plenty of schmaltz.

Another chapter is about to be written between these two great franchises as a trip to the Final Four is on the line.“It’s going to be tough, and this is what we wanted,” Cleveland said. “They are a great team and it’s a great opportunity for us to keep growing and just play some playoff basketball. It doesn’t get better than this.”