By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BOLOGNA, Italy – The last time Maccabi Tel Aviv visited Bologna for a EuroLeague trip, things were different. Way different. Sergio Scariolo was putting box-and-one on Lorenzo Brown, making sure he couldn’t cause damages just like he did with Spain at EuroBasket 2022. Luca Banchi was in Strasbourg, and Oded Kattash used to coach his home games in Israel, not Belgrade.
The last time Virtus Bologna hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv, the black-and-white team won 78-73 in front of its fans, but Marco Belinelli didn’t spend a single minute on the court. Tonight, instead, the Italian captain was crucial, continuing his Benjamin Button’s season in the EuroLeague by scoring 22 points on 4/8 from beyond the arc most of the time in off-the-screen situations, helping his team win 100-90.
He was followed by none other than Toko Shengelia, who just did whatever he wanted against Roman Sorkin on the glass, dancing under the rim and going home with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 fouls drawn. The former Baskonia and CSKA Moscow player keeps on dominating in this year’s EuroLeague. Daniel Hackett had also a pretty good showing with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists.
“We stay solid and consistent during the whole forty minutes, Maccabi is an incredibly talented team and they showed since the beginning their offensive potential. I believe that in terms of continuity, we were very solid. In such a kind of game, you have to stay focused, not to miss the direction or become frenetic. We tried to follow their flow”, Luca Banchi shared after the win.
On Maccabi’s end, Lorenzo Brown replicated last season’s personal show, ending the game with 26 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 7 fouls drawn. His backline partner Wade Baldwin IV added another all-around game with 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists but couldn’t be as effective as the former Crvena Zvezda and Fenerbahce playmaker.
“Offensively we did the right things to win this game, but we have to be more committed on defense. We can’t win games getting 100 points. In both the first and second half, they scored 50 points, it’s way too much. We have to show some more commitment on defense, we need to take decisions. It’s not easy for us, we’re in a tough situation but we’re good enough to win games like that”, Oded Kattash commented in the post-game press conference, sharing his disappointment.
Chronicle of a double-game week supremacy by Virtus
Offenses didn’t slow down in the first quarter, as Maccabi Tel Aviv was leading 29-28 after the first ten minutes exploiting several fast-break situations and catching Virtus Bologna’s defensive end off guard. As expected, Tornike Shengelia was effective since the beginning, scoring his team’s first seven points. Antonius Cleveland got early foul troubles, going out of the court with 2:52 to go before halftime after receiving a technical. Exchanging leads, the two teams went to the locker rooms at 49-49.
After a very high-up-tempo first half, the two teams continued on the same page, running the court more than usual. The home side adjusted perfectly to the situation and extended its lead to ten points (71-61) at 4:16 on the clock in the third. Virtus controlled the game for the first part of the last quarter, but Maccabi Tel Aviv came back within three points (86-83) with 4:19 to go. Keeping heads up, Toko Shengelia and teammates sealed the deal late in the game, getting to 9-4 to start this season.
In Round 15, Virtus Bologna (9-4) will travel on the road to Vitoria-Gasteiz to face Baskonia on December 14 at 20:30 CET. Maccabi Tel Aviv (7-6), instead, will play on the same day at 20:05 CET, hosting Anadolu Efes in Belgrade’s Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. Before this game, Luca Banchi’s team managed to turn things around in the home clash against 2nd-seeded FC Barcelona, while the Israeli side got the away victory over ASVEL. That’s how Virtus Bologna completed its double-game week.
PHOTO CREDIT: Virtus Segafredo Bologna