Valencia – Maccabi
International - Euroleague Round 3
Valencia, October 18, 20:30 CET
Unexpectedly for many, Valencia started the season in an exceptional rhythm, both in the Euroleague and in the Spanish ACB league. They will be a worthy opponent in a potentially uncertain duel with Israeli giants Maccabi, in Euroleague round 3 on Wednesday.
The best thing about the Valencia game system, which has won six in a row (since September 27), is that this team shows that they have an answer to both dominantly defensive rivals on the one hand, as well as attacking teams that insist on a transition game, on the other side.
Thus, on October 8, Valencia defeated very good Obradoiro team on their home field 85:79; before that, they celebrated against Unicaja in Malaga 82:76, against a team that definitely has the quality to play in the Euroleague this season. Also, there was an impressive edition in the triumph away to Tenerife 94:86 at the end of September. On the other hand, the previous weekend Breogan was defeated away from home 61:59, in a completely different rhythm than the previous matches.
On the other hand, Maccabi, the Tel Aviv powerhouse, last played in an impressive victory over Partizan in the Euroleague 96:81. 12 days have passed since that triumph, and since then the Maccabi team has been moved to Cyprus, where it will be the club's new base as long as the war in Israel lasts. The team had a lot of time to prepare for this extremely important match and will be ready for a new spectacle of attacking play.
Last season in Valencia, Maccabi won 94:93 at the beginning of February. In November 2020, Valencia triumphed 82:80 as the hosts. And now it is easy to expect that we will certainly see more than 160 points in the match - as well as that we will probably see a duel that will be decided only in the last minute.
Power forward Brandon Davies, who can also play in the center position, is a key link in Valencia's game. In the victory over Fenerbahce in the previous Euroleague round (77:74), he scored 18 points in just 21 minutes on court. Then the previous weekend he had a double-double in the victory over Breogan (11 points and ten rebounds). Serbian playmaker Jovic also has an extremely important role, both in attack and defense - as well as American guard Washington, guard Robertson...
However, the impression is that Maccabi has a larger number of quality players, especially when it comes to attacking play. Guard Lorenzo Brown performs equally well in the organization of the game, as well as offering individual solutions in the attack. Players like Nebo, Colson and Sorkin are great athletes who can bring a lot of points to the team.
Maccabi will play without Wade Baldwin, who was the team's top scorer last season and has not yet recovered from injury for a tough schedule of matches this week. That is why the guests are not favorites in this duel - on the contrary, it is a match of equal opponents, who will be ready for a quality duel of attacking basketball, at the top of the Euroleague level.