Maccabi (5-4) will play its second home game of the week in Belgrade with a visit from rock-bottom ALBA (1-9), which is still waiting for its first road win of the season.
Oded Kattash, Maccabi: 'We face this game with a lot of respect'
Seasons
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 11 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Although ALBA will be aware of Lorenzo Brown's role as Maccabi's main playmaker, the German team will also need to focus on its former player Tamir Blatt, who ranks fifth in the league for assists with 5.4 per game. Although it has struggled in nearly every statistical category, ALBA does lead the league in steals, with Gabriele Procida ranked third overall with 1.8 per night. And those ball-hawking abilities will be very important to disrupt the rhythm of a fast-paced Maccabi offense, led by Brown and Blatt, which averages 20.4 assists per game, second-best in the competition.
Oded Kattash, Maccabi head coach
"ALBA is a team that plays with a definitory system and gave hard time to multiple teams. We have to be ready to play, there are no easy games in the EuroLeague. The fact that we are considered as favorites because of the records might be a disadvantage if we are not concentrated. So we face this game with a lot of respect."
Jake Cohen, Maccabi player
"We need to play much better basketball than what we did against Real. That's a great opportunity to bounce back. ALBA Berlin has some talent and they know how to play so it's not going to be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination."