Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Panathinaikos
In what is expected to be the closer of the two semi final games, Euroleague titleholders Maccabi Tel Aviv matches up with Panathinaikos, the most successful European team of the past decade. The two teams have a long history of matching up in title games (Panathinaikos won in 2000, Maccabi in 2001, while in 2002, the Greens beat Maccabi in the semi-final game of the Final Four, before taking the title versus Kinder Bologna).
This year, history repeats itself, but Maccabi is the favorite. Having already won the title last year in a more than dominant fashion versus Climamio Bologna, the Israeli team has proven during the Regular Season and especially the Top-16 round that even though the Final Four takes place in Moscow and CSKA has only lost once this year, Maccabi should definitely be considered the second team to beat in Euroleague. Led again by three of the most complete players in the World, Lithuanian Point Guard Sarunas Jasikevicius (15.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 5.2 apg), American Swingman and Euroleague MVP Anthony Parker (30, 6-6, 18.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.5 apg), and Croatian Power Forward/Center Nikola Vujcic (27, 6-11, 14.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.8 apg), Maccabi presents a stormy offensive game, which is difficult, if not impossible to follow during a 40-minute game. And this is the bet for coach Pini Gherson, who has seen his team go undefeated in both the Top-16 and the Quarter-Finals, after a 10-4 record in the Regular season. The team has hardly had hard times finding a way to score and when Jasikevicius and Parker are on fire, then there is no way for Maccabi to be stopped by any opponent defense.
Maccabi scores 92.2 points per game in a 40-minute competition, and although they usually face difficulties versus strong, defensive teams, the odds are still in favor of them when games go over 90 points per team. Also, all-around wing player Tal Burstein (6-6, 25, Israel, 7.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.4 apg), veteran Derrick Sharp (6-1, 34, Israel/U.S., 6.7 ppg) and Nestoras Kommatos (28, 6-8, Greece, 3.7 ppg) often come off the bench and spark the perimeter in a way that the offensive tempo is not interrupted when the starters are tired.
Concerning some difficulties that the team is going to face during this Final Four, they will first of all miss useful big man Dion Thomas (34, 6-10, U.S.), who was injured two weeks ago and now Vujcic and especially big man Maceo Baston (29, 6-10, U.S., 14.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 bpg) will have loads of work to do both in the Semi-Final game versus Panathinaikos and also in the Final game (if Maccabi makes it) versus either CSKA or Tau.
It was mentioned before that in order to have some chances to beat Maccabi, you need to be a strong defensive team, and Panathinaikos is exactly that. Carrying many years of maturity and experience, coach Zeliko Obradovic has created a very strong and physical group, which had the second best defense in the Euroleague this season. In a memorable quarterfinal series versus the best defensive team in Europe, the Turkish team Efes Pilsen, Panathinaikos got the last ticket for the Final Four and is now ready to return to what was projected as "heaven", after two years of absence.
This season, Obradovic is relying on many players throughout the game, looking for a balanced team offensively that pays more attention on the defensive end, pressing relentlessly with a harsh three-guard system, led by Slovenian Combo Guard Jaka Lakovic (27, 6-2, 15.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.8 apg), Greek Point Guard and Euroleague Defensive Player of the Year Dimitris Diamantidis (25, 6-4, 7.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.9 spg), and the athletic Serbian Wing Guard Vlado Scepanovic (30, 6-6, 9.3 ppg).
The pressure that these three players create on the perimeter usually drives opponents to make consecutive turnovers, which end up as easy baskets, by the quick forwards Kostas Tsartsaris (26, 6-10, Greece, 7.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and Mike Batiste (28, 6-9 U.S., 11.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg). Look for Maccabi to try and break this press with their three outstanding ball-handlers, Jasikevicius, Parker and Burstein.
The main difficulty of Panathinaikos concerns its frontline, as there is not a real center on the roster, except for the German Patrick Femerling (30, 7-1, 5.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg), who is used sparingly, which forces Panathinaikos to press on defense and sometimes overly rely on Lakovic's, the Euroleague's Player of the month in February, excellent long shooting touch. However, in a Final Four, a player like Lakovic, who can either take or lose games by himself, might end up being the Greeks downfall if he is guarded well by opponents, so Obradovic often uses veteran Wing role players like Ibrahim Kutluay (31, 6-6, Turkey, 7.2 ppg) and Frankiskos Alvertis (31, 6-9, 8.5 ppg), as soft Power Forwards, who can both press inside and take the long-range shots when needed.
The game of both teams looks and is completely different; however it is surely going to be a close game. If Thomas hadn't been injured, then Maccabi would be the favorite, but now things are confused, as the advantage in the frontline is not clear. However, Maccabi, the titleholders, are still better and slightly more experienced, as Panathinaikos' stars Lakovic and Diamantidis has never participated in a final four, in comparison to Parker and Jasikevicius, who are already Champions.
However, the perimeter defense of Panathinaikos has proven to be a winning one throughout the season, while Maccabi might face some difficulties in guarding so many shooters at the same moments.