Maccabi Tel Aviv – Partizan

Euroleague Round 1

Tel Aviv, October 5, 20:05 CET

The most attractive match of the opening round of the Euroleague, at least when it comes to fast attacking basketball, will be played in Tel Aviv.

The fact that Maccabi, the proud hosts, will play against Partizan without the first scorer Wade Baldwin (due to a minor injury, he may be ready for the second round next week), will not excessively affect the Israeli giant's approach to the game.

On the other hand, the Belgrade team has already shown that they want to play even faster and more offensively than in the last season, in which Partizan earned the reputation of the most efficient team in Europe. On Monday at the start of the regional ABA league, the "black and whites" scored 110 points in a victory over the Montenegrin team Mornar (110:78). Before that, in the dress rehearsal for the beginning of the season, Partizan was defeated by Euroleague rivals Bayern Munich 99:95.

We saw it many times last season: teams that want to beat Partizan simply have to be ready to accept their fast-paced game and outscore the mighty opponents. Maccabi beat rivals from Serbia 90:81 in Tel Aviv in January of this year. There's a good chance we'll see over 170 points again in this matchup.

In November last year in Belgrade, Partizan won against the Israeli giants 96:88... Both teams kept key players and strengthened themselves during the summer, so they know what kind of match they can expect. In the case of both teams, they will insist on shots in the opening ten seconds of the attack, and special attention will be paid to running the transition game after the opponent's missed shots.

Partizan managed to rest and not strain some of the key players in the victory over Mornar on Monday. Famous power forward LeDay did not play at all, and the other American, the team's top scorer Kevin Punter, played only 12 minutes. Both will be fresh and ready for the match. Important assets of the Partizan team in the attack will be small forward Nunnally, a new center with rich NBA experience Kaminsky, but also a number of domestic players such as Andjusic, playmaker Avramovic, center Smailagic... Also, in the rotation, a potentially important role will be played by Polish forward Ponitka, as in in defense as well as in attack.

Maccabi, on the other hand, lost the Israeli derby at home against Hapoel Jerusalem last weekend 79:71. Playmaker Brown, good shooters Colson and Dibartolomeo, players like Blatt, Sorkin, Cohen and Rivero – all will have to share the responsibility on offense after Baldwin's injury. Nevertheless, Maccabi plays in the long term in a recognizable system and rhythm, and will certainly be effective in front of their fans.

This duel promises to be the most entertaining basketball performance at the start of the Euroleague, and the guests have a very equal chance in the fight for triumph, in the given situation when form and injuries are concerned. It is to be expected that both of them will demonstrate an exceptional attacking performance, at the best European level.