No Euroleague relief for Maccabi in Germany

Tel Aviv drops to 7-14 in continental play with disheartening defeat to Brose Bamberg.

By ALLON SINAI
Maccabi Tel Aviv guard Andrew Goudelock (left) scored a team-high 22 points in last night’s 90-75 defeat to Darius Miller (right) Brose Bamberg in Euroleague action in Germany. (photo credit: UDI ZITIAT)
Maccabi Tel Aviv guard Andrew Goudelock (left) scored a team-high 22 points in last night’s 90-75 defeat to Darius Miller (right) Brose Bamberg in Euroleague action in Germany.
(photo credit: UDI ZITIAT)
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s nightmare Euroleague campaign continued with yet another defeat on Thursday night, a humbling 90-75 loss at Brose Bamberg in Germany.
After a week in which it made headlines for all the wrong reasons following the departure of Sonny Weems, Maccabi showed some promising form in the first half. But yet again it was outplayed after the break, dropping to a 7-14 record with its 10th defeat from the past 12 Euroleague games.
Andrew Goudelock led Maccabi with 22 points, with D.J. Seeley the team’s only other player in double figures, scoring 19 points.
Janis Strelnieks ensured Bamberg snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 8-13 with 25 points on 10-of-10 from the field, including five three-pointers.
Maccabi parted ways with Weems earlier this week, voiding his contract after he failed to complete a drug test on Saturday.
Weems was the highest paid player on Maccabi’s roster, being handed a $3 million contract for two seasons.
By leaving the club-arranged doping test without permission, Weems gave Maccabi’s management the opportunity it was waiting for to cut its losses knowing it is only a matter of time before the yellow-and-blue will be eliminated from Euroleague playoff contention.
“We were in the game for 30 minutes and for some reason we then missed aggressiveness and let them score open shots,” said Maccabi coach Ainars Bagatskis.
Bamberg scored the first five points of the night, but at no stage did Maccabi seem to really miss Weems, quickly evening the score and taking a five-point gap (21-16) into the second quarter thanks to Guy Pnini’s buzzer- beating three-pointer.
Maccabi remained in front for the remainder of the first half, but it led by no more than seven points and entered the break ahead by just two points (43-41).
Tel Aviv coach Bagatskis was likely encouraged by his team’s display in the first half, but Bamberg dominated the third period, with Strelnieks outscoring Maccabi on his own.
The Latvian entered the game two minutes into the second half and scored 13 points in the remainder of the quarter, with Maccabi managing just 10 throughout the period.
The hosts, who tallied a total of 25 points in the frame, ended it with a 12-0 run, with Strelnieks scoring the final six points to give Bamberg a 13-point cushion (66-53).
The gap reached 16 points (72- 56) before Maccabi fought back to close within six points (76- 70) with 3:50 minutes remaining.
But Bamberg didn’t panic, scoring the next nine points to send the yellow-and-blue to another loss.
Maccabi was aiming to combine three straight wins over all competitions for the first time since November, but instead will enter Sunday’s BSL showdown with Hapoel Jerusalem on the back of another setback.