Tel Aviv Maccabi - Fenerbahce Ulker (2,15 kof. - 1,70 kof., betsafe)
For several years, Tel Aviv Maccabi has invested a lot of money in personal performance-oriented players that the coaches could not fit into the team, and as a result, Maccabi has missed the playoffs for two years in a row. This year, the team's management has chosen a slightly different strategy and brought in more performance-oriented players. Last season's leader S. Wilbekin, as well as local players J. Cohen, J. Dibartolomeo remained in the team. The additions are very solid, with the addition of probably the most famous Israeli player, long-time NBA player O. Casspi, as well as O. Hunter, who has made a name for himself in Europe, and N. Wolters, who represented Zalgiris Kaunas in the previous season. Although Maccabi lost its first 2 Euroleague games of the season, they were both away games against strong teams like Khimki and Real. Khimki was defeated 83-89 away, while Real was only defeated after a spectacular winning shot by J. Carol. Maccabi looked strong at home, beating Crvena Zvezda 84-69 and Valencia 76-63.
On the other side of the barricades, Fenerbahce Ulker has been disappointing so far this season. In the off-season, Ulker has added N. De Colo and D. Williams, who were on a rampage in the EuroLeague last season, and L. Westermann and V. Stimac, who can play solidly, to an already strong core. The Turkish line-up looks really good, but the results will have to wait, as the team will need some time to get used to the system. In the Euroleague, Fenerbahce has lost all 3 of its away games, with its only win coming at home after a tight battle with the Basque team. Away games were against Real Madrid (77-81), Crvena Zvezda (56-68) and Milan Armani (74-87).
Team leaders
Tel Aviv's forward line is driven by the following players:
Omri Casspi - 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds 2.7 res. passes These are the stats of this forward who returned from the NBA to the Euroleague. Cassi looks really good, with good court vision, good decision-making and, of course, good long-range shooting. The forward, who has taken on more of a statistic role in the NBA, will definitely have a leadership role in Maccabi, which he will probably share with S. Wilbekin.
Scottie Wilbekin - Averaging 15.3 points and 3.3 assists per game, the Maccabi sophomore is one of the hardest players to stop in the EuroLeague. Wilbekin has a knack for creating and capitalizing on chances, so he is very hard to stop.
Othello Hunter - The 9.5 points, 6.8 rebounds per game center forward, who joined the team in the offseason, has already become one of the team's key players. Although he averages only 20 minutes on the court, Hunter's efficiency is almost double that of his direct competitor T. Black.
TOP Bookmakers for Euroleague betting
Fenerbahce Ulker leaders:
Nando De Colo - 23 points, 4 rebounds The Frenchman is averaging a career-best 23 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. Of course, only 4 games have been played, but if it wasn't for De Colo's impressive performance against Baskonia, it's very likely that we'd see Ulker without a win right now.
Jan Vesely - 9.7 points The Czech, who averages 7.7 points and 5 rebounds per game, missed the first games of the season due to injury but joined the team in the second round of the Euroleague. Although the stats are not very good so far, everybody knows how important this player is for the team and it's only a matter of time before Vesely, fully recovered from his injury, will lead the team back to victories.
Derrick Williams - 8 points, 5.5 rebounds - that's the stats of the American who joined the team in the off-season. Williams' potential is enormous and he already proved it last year, when he was Bayern's undisputed leader. Of course, it might take some time to get used to Obradovic's system, but he is already one of the most important players in the Ulker squad.
History of mutual meetings
The Turkish team has won the last 5 meetings, but all the games have been hard-fought and the winner was decided in the 4th period. With Maccabi looking much more solid than Ulker at this stage of the season, there is a very good chance that the streak is about to be broken.
Forecast
Although Fenerbahce is definitely the stronger team in terms of line-ups, as seen in the previous games, it lacks the time to get better results and will take time to do so. Although Maccabi has also added a few newcomers, the team's game looks more solid and the home advantage in the EuroLeague has a big impact.
In both games Maccabi looked fresh, shot well and didn't score more than 69 points. Meanwhile, Ulker lost all 3 of their away games and averaged just 69 points. It would be hard to expect the team to change their game drastically in a few days and to be able to dominate on the road against one of the strongest home teams showing good form. Maccabi should defend their home court and celebrate the victory after a hard-fought battle.
EN 
LT 
DE 
FR 
SV 
ES 
IT 
FI 
LV 
SK 
SL 
TR