A Formidable Fortress: How Maccabi clinched their spot in the playoffs / News - Basketnews.com

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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv are one of only 8 teams to go to the EuroLeague Playoffs. It marks the first time the club has reached this stage in 7 years. What were the reasons behind a late successful playoff push in recent weeks and throughout the entire season? Let's find out.

Maccabi Tel Aviv / Schedule

Maccabi Tel Aviv Fenerbahce Istanbul85-76 Real Madrid Maccabi Tel AvivWed19:00

The end of the year 2021 was grim for Maccabi. 8 losses in a row are not great for any team, let alone one with as much individual talent as the one from Tel Aviv. 2022 did not start much better. A tough loss against Herzliya in the Israeli Basketball League was followed by a COVID-19 outbreak, forcing the team to miss two weeks of matches.

Reports started to surface that some players got into altercations during practices, James Nunnally did not go to one of the away games, then-coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos seemed unable to get the things going, and ultimately Maccabi lost in the Israeli Cup semifinal game against Hapoel Tel Aviv.

The loss was the breaking point for the club and its fans. Dissatisfied with losing not only on the international stage but on the local courts as well, some of the team's fans tried to break into the players' locker room, while Sfairopoulos had to be escorted by security.

Maccabi FansCredit Basketnews/Mindaugas Bertys

It seemed like the lowest of low points a club can face. However, it marked the beginning of one of the most electrifying teams in the tournament. Now, Maccabi are formidable at home and feared in away games.

Let's take a look at the Maccabi puzzle and what makes the hottest team in Europe.

The Unexpected General

When Ioannis Sfairopoulos was fired, Maccabi had a new general near the court. Avi Even. When the fans heard this name, it probably sounded fake. A name almost nobody had heard before, the former Maccabi head of scouting department and player development was put under the pressure to lead the disgruntled team to glory. And boy did he succeed.

Free throws this season

82%14,3Points made:14,3Accuracy:81,9%Place in standings:2Record max:25Record min:7Most made FTs:James NunnallyTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

But who is Avi Even? Together with the legendary Nikola Vujcic, Even has been responsible for building the team in recent seasons. As a scout, he followed players with the potential to make a significant career breakthrough every summer. As a result, both he and the management received tremendous criticism during recent years for the club's failure to recapture its glory.

However, the thing that got the new coach the most criticism is what currently leads him to success. Even is considered an integral part of the club, where he has been employed in various roles for 17 years. Beginning his career in the youth department, he then was later promoted to an assistant to legendary Zvika Sharaf, Pini Gershon, and David Blatt, Even then moved to the position of head of the scouting division.

Avi Even with Shimon MizrahiCredit www.haaretz.co.il

Avi Even knows every single player on the team inside and out. "After the dismissal, he put in things of his own, slowly, so as not to completely shock the whole system," a club source told Ash Even from ynet.co.il. "He has such a special way that he makes people do what he wants in the most natural way possible."

According to people close to the situation, the main idea Even tries to instill in his players is that the individual will grow out of the team, not the team out of the individual, and the better and more cohesive the team, the more the players will be able to stand out as individuals.

The team is first but Avi lets the talented players play and be who they are, and the results speak for themselves.

Not Only Gate 11

Maccabi fans are arguably the best in Europe. Dedicated enough to fill the entire Menora Mivtachim arena night in and night out, but crazy enough to make each game a truly memorable experience. Led by one-of-a-kind announcer Shai Sidi, who not only performs the regular announcing duties but also starts and sometimes ends the chants, the Maccabi fan base fuels the electric game that we've recently seen.

Gate 11, or The Gate as they call themselves, is the Maccabi fan organization famous for its presence during the games. They have a song for each team's players that they sing 15 or so minutes before the match. They themselves make special attires and decorations for various occasions. The best part? Other fans join in.

It seems like every fan, from the littlest of them to the oldest, knows the chants and understands the game, and it shows. Menora Mivtachim arena is the best-selling court in the EuroLeague, consistently attracting near-full numbers.

10-plus thousand fans are crazy for their team in the best of ways. A mix between the nastiness of the Balkans and the more reserved and family-friendly approach of the Western European countries. It somehow blends together into a unique atmosphere you want to experience more often.

The Menora Mivtachim experience is one of the primary reasons that got Maccabi to the playoffs.

Almost Unstoppable at Home

After the Russian teams were excluded from the 2021/2022 EuroLeague season following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Maccabi got probably the biggest breaks of all the teams. It suddenly catapulted the team to the Top-6 of the league's standings.

Many were quick to dismiss the Israeli team due to their lack of stability and continued excellence before the suspensions. However, there is one key number we have to look at after Maccabi made the Playoffs as the 5th seed.

The Israeli powerhouse has won against all but one team of the remaining Top-8 at home. The only club they lost against was Anadolu Efes Istanbul. That's it. All other teams fell on their knees in the Menora Mivtachim Arena, often losing by a hefty margin.

FC Barcelona lost by 17, Olympiacos Piraeus lost by 15, AX Armani Exchange Milan lost by 15, and AS Monaco lost by 11. Only FC Bayern Munich and Real Madrid managed to keep it close, both of them ultimately losing by a single point.

Removing the Russian teams, Maccabi lost only to Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade and Anadolu Efes at home, that's it.

The Rejuvenated Superstar

Scottie Wilbekin is undoubtedly the superstar of the team. Tasked with leading one of the most storied franchises in European basketball history, Scottie is the leader on the court. Calm and collected when it matters the most, he can go on a shooting spree that nobody in the league can match.

The two recent seasons have been plagued with injuries for Wilbekin. However, this year has been different. Wilbekin scored the most points in a single game this year. Those 37 points are still this season's record. No other player has managed to match it. Scottie is now the youngest player to reach 400 three-pointers made in EuroLeague's history and the second-fastest ever to do it.

He's one of only 7 players in multiple Top-5 categories - #3 in steals, #4 in points. Although three-pointers are his trademark weapon, only 51.2% of Wilbekin's points come from them. He's also the best free-throw shooter in the game, doing it at an astonishing 94.38%.

When Avi Even became the head coach, one change regarding Wilbekin was made throughout the matches. He touched the ball less. Seems counterintuitive to not let their best player have the ball more, but it netted results. The American point guard is now much more than a POINT guard. He leads the team in more ways than it is seen with a plain eye, and is the key point of Maccabi's recent success.

The Scoring Machine

James Nunnally is a character. Both on the court and off the court. A highly-emotional player who is capable of scoring sprees that very few in the EuroLeague can match. When Nunnally's game clicks, the entire Maccabi team's game clicks.

In the 16 games Maccabi won with Nunnally on the roster, he averaged 16.9 points shooting two-pointers at 58.3% and three-pointers at 48.9% for 19.4 PIR. In the games Maccabi lost this year with Nunnally on the roster (including losses against Russian teams), he averaged 10.7 points shooting twos at 45.8% and threes at a mere 26.9% for 11.2 PIR.

Correlation does not equal causation, but the American forward is much more than the numbers on the box score. Nunnally is the emotional presence on the court who often rallies the crowd after successful episodes. Together with Jalen Reynolds, Nunnally forms the duo of players that the fans adore when their game goes right.

Nunnally's game has been going right under Avi Even. In the last 8 games with the new coach, the eccentric forward has been averaging 15.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3 assists for a dominant 21.2 PIR.

After a season where he played only 9 games for Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in 2019-2020, Nunnally is having a comeback season this year in the EuroLeague. It now seems that he will be one of the club's top priorities in the upcoming offseason as his 1+1 contract ends in a few months.

James NunnallyCredit Seffi Magriso/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

The Reliable Presence

Ante Zizic started the season injured. The Croatian center tore his hamstring during the last week of September and did not play during the first four matches of the new season. When he returned, he only played 10 minutes against Panathinaikos. However, the story quickly changed.

Zizic started to tear opponents' defenses apart. He averaged 14 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 21 PIR points during the next 5 games and let everybody know who the starting center should be on the team.

Last year was up and down for Zizic. Great performances were followed by forgettable nights, resulting in the averages of 9.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 11.4 PIR. In the words of Anatoly Dyatlov, not great, not terrible. However, this year is different.

12.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 16.6 PIR - these are elite numbers for a EuroLeague center. Talking about centers, only Jan Vesely scores more than him, and only Vesely, Walter Tavares, and Georgios Papagiannis average a higher PIR number per game. A truly elite company to be in.

His stellar performance and 33 PIR points in Round 22 against Olympiacos earned him the MVP of the Round trophy. 26 PIR points against CSKA Moscow, 31 against Anadolu Efes, 33 against Olympiacos, 27 against Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, and 30 against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne - just a glimpse of what Zizic has provided for Maccabi this year.

It's no surprise the fans love him. Get Ante the ball in the post and he will convert the pass to points more often than not.

What's next?

According to a team source, Avi Even managed to connect all the players to him, and give them a feeling that they were all in it together. "It's only the beginning of the way, it's only the beginning. Long way to go, long way," the coach told his players after clinching the playoff spot. "A lot of goals to achieve, step by step. We're going to get better each and every day."

The next goal? Playoffs matchup against Real Madrid. The teams were separated by only two points and a point in their two matchups this season. Maccabi are not the favorites of the pair, and they know it.

When the club announced the sale of tickets to the first home game of the playoffs, the tickets were sold out in an hour even though the fans didn't know the opponent yet. One thing is certain - the players will give their all and the Menora Mivtachim Arena will be behind them throughout the way.

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