Euroleague Basketball: Time for Maccabi to improve in Europe

Tel Aviv hosts Avellino tonight with pressure mounting on coach Effi Birenboim.

By ALLON SINAI
tal burstein mac ta 224 88 ap (photo credit: AP [file])
tal burstein mac ta 224 88 ap
(photo credit: AP [file])
Maccabi Tel Aviv will look to get its Euroleague campaign back on track when it hosts Italy's Air Avellino at the Nokia Arena on Thursday night. Effi Birenboim's team crashed to an 81-79 defeat at Cibona Zagreb in its European opener last week and, despite showing relative improvement in the BSL victory over Hapoel Galil Elyon/Gilboa on Sunday, is still struggling to display the form its fans expect to see from their team. Sunday's league win relieved some of the pressure on Birenboim, but the veteran coach knows that anything other than a comfortable victory against Avellino will intensify the criticism leveled at him to an almost unbearable point. "Maccabi is always the favorite when it plays at the Nokia Arena," Birenboim said on Wednesday. "Avellino is playing in the Euroleague for the first time and they will be entering the game without any pressure." Besides D'or Fischer and Lior Eliyahu, who scored 26 and 14 points respectively against Cibona, no other player on the roster played to potential last week. Carlos Arroyo, who hit just two of 13 attempts from the field in Croatia, will come under intense scrutiny once more on Thursday, with the majority of fans still unconvinced that his record contract was money well spent. Avellino has won two of its first three games in the Italian league to date, defeating NGC Cantu 65-61 on Monday, but suffered a disappointing 83-69 home loss to Olympiacos in its Euroleague opener last week. The Italians led by eight points after the first period, but a disastrous second quarter gave the Greeks a lead they wouldn't relinquish. There are several names on the Avellino roster that will be familiar to Israeli fans. Chris Warren, who led the team with 18 points last week, played against Maccabi with Cibona last year and has fond memories from Tel Aviv after scoring a season-high 23 points at Nokia last season. "We're playing to win," Warren said on Wednesday. "Maccabi's crisis is a disadvantage for us because their players will be more focused. It's going to be a difficult game, but you always have a chance to win." Another player who will need no introducing to Tel Aviv is former Hapoel Jerusalem star Tamar Slay, who will be looking to rebound from his two-point performance against Olympiacos. The biggest name on the roster is former Indiana Pacers playmaker Travis Best, but at 36-years-old the guard is well past his prime. He's still capable, however, of causing Maccabi plenty of trouble and scored 14 points and passed five assists last week. "Our main goal is to play to the best of our ability," said Avellino coach Zare Markovski, who refused to speak of his team's chances of claiming a victory at the Nokia Arena. "I don't think about winning or losing, but just about giving our all." Maccabi captain Derrick Sharp saw his streak of 195 consecutive appearances in European basketball's premier competition come to an end last week when Birenboim kept him on the bench throughout the game against Cibona. Despite the disappointment, the 37-year-old can't wait for Thursday's game to begin. "No matter how long I'll play I'll always be excited ahead of our home opener," he said. "I'm not affected by the fact that sometimes I play and sometimes I don't. I'm ready to go on court whenever I'm called upon."