Analysis: Zalgiris - Maccabi, odds and tips

Zalgiris secured itself an advance to the best 16 of the Euroleague. Will they be able to create unexpectedness in the match against Maccabi thanks to the dope of their fans?

Situation in the tournament:
It will be the first meeting of these teams at the Top 16 stage. Basketball players of Barcelona and the Italian Basket Kantu also battle against each other in this group.

Condition and team situation:
The Lithuanians who have amazingly advanced from the group are now before a chance to make a big surprise for their fans. But it won’t be so easy since fate gave them two giants of European basketball – Barcelona and Maccabi Tel Aviv as opponents. Basketball players of Grunwald can withstand every opponent before their own spectators which could have been seen in the match of WTB against the mighty Himik. A great advantage of Zalgiris is friendly atmosphere in the team. Trifunolovich’s players do not show an amazing play in the attack, defense or rebounds and if they win then it is thanks to persistence and determination. The key player is undoubtedly Sonny Weems, the former player of Toronto Raptors, who was the best forward in the match against the Moscow club. Definitely the new generation of Lithuanian basketball players headed by Kalnetis and Jankunas is an important line in the team from Kaunas. There are also veterans in the team – Salenga, Javtokas and Collins. Maccabi is the acting Vice champion of the Euroleague. Similarly to previous years it is extraordinarily strong in the attack, the logotype of the team is the quick change from defense into attack. In spite of Chuck Eidson’s (Barcelona) loss and leaving of Jordan Farmar the guests’ potential is huge. Before the New Year Shimon Mizrachi, the additional club’s president, signed contracts with two important players on the 1-2 positions. Demond Mallet and Keith Langford are the players of European class who are famous for their accurate throws. Detention of the mighty basketball player Sofo Schortsanitis and his partner James Shawn can occur as an enormous problem for the players of Zalgiris.

History of meetings:
These two clubs have already met for 10 times since the season of 2002/2003. Maccabi won 7 times and Zalgiris 3 matches. Balance in Kaunas: 87:91, 78:70, 75:102, 101:82, 68:71 (1-4 for Maccabi).

Tips and justification:
Given the other weakened clubs Maccabi’s position is growing in Europe. Although the two major players (Farmar and Casspi) left the team from Israel, Langford and Mallet replaced them. We should remind that because of the injuries Casspi could play neither in the European Championship, nor in the Euroleague. Is Maccabi in a worse shape than the last year? Most likely not. Zhalgiris have already reached their goal this season, although there were some problems with the advance to the Top 16. Ty Lawson left the team, since the team has difficult times, he is not the last player to leave Kaunas as the management is trying to reduce the budget (the club left VTB, and has no chance to advance to the Euroleague). Perhaps we will not see Sonny Weems in the team from Grunwald, though things may still change. Zalgiris, taking into account their performance in the group stage, will not have a chance in the game against Maccabi.

Compare odds on the match Zalgiris Kaunas - Maccabi Tel Aviv: