Maccabi Tel Aviv takes off on annual preseason world tour

The Intercontinental Cup, which dates back to 1966, was dormant for nearly two decades before its revival last season.

By ALLON SINAI
A team picture of Maccabi Tel Aviv's basketball team. (photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
A team picture of Maccabi Tel Aviv's basketball team.
(photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
Maccabi Tel Aviv embarked on a 17-day road trip on Tuesday that will begin with the 2014 FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Brazil and continue with pre-season games against NBA teams, including former coach David Blatt and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Euroleague champion Maccabi faces Liga de las Americas champion Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup at the Gimnasio Maracanazinho Arena in Rio de Janeiro, with the first leg to be played on Friday and Game 2 to take place on Sunday.
The Intercontinental Cup, which dates back to 1966, was dormant for nearly two decades before its revival last season, when then Euroleague champion Olympiacos Piraeus defeated Pinheiros Sky for the cup.
Earlier this year, Flamengo defeated Pinheiros in the Liga de las Americas final. Flamengo’s roster is composed almost completely of Brazilian players, with the exception of two Argentinians and one American.
Flamengo’s best-known players are forward Marcelinho Machado, who was the 2014 Liga de las Americas MVP and played in the Euroleague during the 2006-07 season with Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania, and 35-year-old Argentinian Walter Herrmann, who played in the NBA for four seasons.
Maccabi will be aiming to claim the Intercontinental Cup for the second time in club history, lifting the trophy in Sarajevo in 1980.
Following the Intercontinental Cup, the yellow-and-blue will travel to Cleveland next week and face the Cavs on October 5 before playing the Brooklyn Nets two days later.
Meanwhile, Maccabi center Alex Tyus was suspended for three BSL games by the Israel Basketball Association on Tuesday after refusing to join the national team for its EuroBasket 2015 qualifying campaign earlier this summer.