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Maccabi continues to make great use of home-court advantage

Maccabi continues to make great use of home-court advantage

Straipsnis

17 sausio 20234 Minutė skaityti

Maccabi continues to make great use of home-court advantage

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv heads into its Round 20 clash against ALBA Berlin as the clear favorite. And the reasons why are quite clear. No team has a better record at home this season than Maccabi's 8-1, while no team has fared worse on the road than Maccabi (2-8).

Maccabi's home-court record comes during a season in which home teams are winning less. With home teams victorious in 102 of 171 games played so far, the 59.6% winning percentage is the fourth-lowest in competition history. The lowest came in the 2020-21 season (53.8%) in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic when the majority of the games were played without fans. Last season home teams won at a 66.1% clip and the all-time average is 62.4%.

Historically, the home-court advantage in Tel Aviv has been meaningful with Maccabi having won 72.6% of its home games, currently the seventh-best all-time among teams with at least 100 home games. And a victory this week would see it leapfrog Panathinaikos Athens into sixth on that distinguished list.

Last season Maccabi went 13-4 at home. During the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign, it was 13-1 in Tel Aviv. Those were the team’s best showings at home under the current round-robin format and, not surprisingly, Maccabi was ranked highest in the standings in those two seasons; it was tied for fourth when the 2019-20 season was halted and finished fifth last season.

Maccabi’s home record this season is no scheduling fluke; it has defeated four of the teams currently sitting ahead of it in the standings (Olympiacos Piraeus, AS Monaco, Zalgiris Kaunas and Anadolu Efes Istanbul).

In many of the games, the backcourt has shined; starting guards Wade Baldwin and Lorenzo Brown and reserves Darrun Hilliard and John DiBartolomeo have averaged a combined 43.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 13.6 assists and 5.9 turnovers for a PIR of 46.3 at home compared to 38.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 11.2 assists, 7.0 turnovers for a PIR of 33.1 in road games.

Players, coaches, management, fans and even sports psychologists have long debated what the home-court advantage actually is. Unlike other professional sports, the surface and dimensions of basketball courts are the same at every EuroLeague arena.

In Tel Aviv, however, the difference is clear to all. It’s the fans.

"Back when I was a player, Thursday nights were always special here in Menora Mivtachim Arena. That was great, the fans were unbelievable."

Oded Kattash

"Back when I was a player, Thursday nights were always special here in Menora Mivtachim Arena. That was great, the fans were unbelievable," Coach Oded Kattash said after the team defeated Efes.

After last week’s triumph over Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, Bonzie Colson said: "I feed off their energy, we have the best fans in the EuroLeague and it is great to have them behind us every home game."

"We really like playing here and we have this adrenalin from the fans," Roman Sorkin added after beating Valencia Basket.

Nearly every player on the roster can be credited with a quote about the fans because Maccabi has as loyal a fan base as any in the league, and the club sold all of its season tickets already in August!

The passion from the supporters in yellow hasn’t been limited to games in Tel Aviv, either. At every Final Four Maccabi has played over the past two decades, from Moscow to Prague to Madrid to Barcelona to Milan, the Maccabi fans have been loud and visible.

If Kattash’s men can continue to feed off the energy at Menora Mivtachim Arena and then capture a few more road wins, a ticket to the EuroLeague Playoffs could be in the cards. And no team wants to visit Tel Aviv in April.