The week's action begins early on Tuesday, with a game initially scheduled for Round 4, as Maccabi (5-4) hosts Real (9-0) in Belgrade.
Chus Mateo, Real Madrid: 'You can never let your guard down against such a team'
Seasons
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 6 of 34
Group Regular Season
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The reigning champ is still unbeaten this season and sitting pretty with a two-game lead at the top of the standings, while Maccabi is coming off a narrow home loss to Barcelona and is fighting to return to the all-important top six. The initial priority for Maccabi is containing Real's big men Vincent Poirier (13.3 PIR) and Walter Tavares (13.0), whose confrontation with Josh Nebo (13.6) and Bonzie Colson (15.9) will be a highlight to savor. Also get ready for backcourt fireworks as the league's top two assisters go head to head, with Lorenzo Brown (7.2 apg.) looking to outplay Facu Campazzo (8.3).
Oded Kattash, Maccabi head coach
"Real Madrid have players in every position that can be game changers. They play with a lot of confidence, with great size, and they have experience. We have to be focused for 40 minutes, especially to limit easy points and transition plays."
Chus Mateo, Real Madrid head coach
"Maccabi is a very demanding opponent with loads of offensive talent on the outside, but also with a powerful inside game. They are the team that scores the most in the paint and they take you to your physical limit because they always play high tempo. It won't be an easy game. We must be consistent all game, you can never let your guard down against such a team because they have many individual and collective resources. Maccabi can play good defense, switch defenses and we'll have to be focused. We have to know this will not be solved during the first quarter, so we will need concemtration until the end."
Roman Sorkin, Maccabi player
"Our minds are always with our country. We try to concentrate on basketball, even though it's hard. We are here for a while and are beginning to settle in. We watch videos of our fans, we miss them."
Dzanan Musa, Real Madrid player
"Maccabi is a dangerous team with skillful players on the one-on-one like Brown and Baldwin, two of the best guards in Europe. We will do everything we can to win this game, but it won't be easy. Controlling the boards and running when we can will be important, but we also have to limit Lorenzo Brown. We have good defenders and we hope we can do a good job on him, without forgetting about the rest of Maccabi players."