Day 2 Euroleague

Maccabi Tel Aviv - Real Madrid

* Real was absolutely dominating the paint in the first half. Their first 14 points came from inside the paint. The offensive moves of the Spanish teams were simple: either isolation for a big man, or a pick'n'roll which left Maccabi's defence helpless. And they also grabbed plenty of offensive rebounds. They got 11 offensive boards just in the first half. It stopped in the 2nd half when Maccabi did the obvious - brought help from the weak side.

* And one more thing about the offensive rebounds: Real took many offensive rebounds, and had also high field goal precentages. Which means Maccabi was almost not able to make any defensive stops.

* Maccabi made their great comeback without Ohayon and Mekel, who didn't play the entire 2nd half. Maccabi won that half with 6 points. No doubt, the Israeli team has the potential to be offensively explosive. The two Israeli PGs are a burden on Maccabi's offence. They finished the game with 2 points and 0 PIR combined.

* Maccabi's defence is extremely soft and confused. Not just that the Israeli team cannot handle a pick'n'roll; There are too many players there who have bad defensive habits, or just lack of defensive orientation. In two Euroleague games they received an average of 94 points per evening. Defence wins games, remember?

* Real decided to make a double-up on Goudelock after every screen. It worked well. Real's big men went up high in defence, leaving the paint open. Maccabi was not able to translate it to points from their big guys. In the second half they tried to deny from Maccabi's players (and especially Goudelock) to get the ball on the top of the key.

* Maccabi started the last quarter with a mega small ball formation: Guy Pnini (!) as a center. It worked well for some minutes, as Real's defence failed to maked necessary adaptations. Edelstein pushed it a bit too far, and eventually Real used their size to collect some crucial boards and make second chance points.

* Real took 33 3pts shots. Maccabi took just 21. Edelstein prefers the conventional basketbal: a penetration or a back door pass which ends up with an easy two. Maybe Maccabi, as an underdog, should do something uncoventional. Maybe should more 3pts. It is a bit wild, but getting wild is the only way to win a team which is supreme in every category.