Montepaschi Siena - Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv (preview)

Derrick Sharp has been there 6 times already

02-05-2008 13:05

The first semifinal at the 2008 Euroleague Basketball Final Four will be a classic battle of offense against defense. Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv qualified for Madrid with the best attack in the Euroleague this season, while Montepaschi Siena set a new standard for steals with its stifling defense.

Neither was among the preseason favorites to dominate the Euroleague, but both performed at the highest levels possible when it mattered most. The Italian champs were the only team to sweep their Quarterfinal Playoffs series and are coming off a 63-point domestic win over Pierrel Capo d'Orlando, in which they showed they are ready for the Final Four. Maccabi has lost back-to-back Israeli League games, but that could mean they will be even hungrier and more prepared for the semifinals. Experience benefits Maccabi, with a roster featuring seven players who’ve been to the Final Four. Montepaschi has only one.

Maccabi has beaten Montepaschi in all of their 8 previous matchups, registering 5 of those wins by 5 points or less. Maccabi Elite is set to take in its seventh Final Four of the millennium. Derrick Sharp and Tal Burstein are the only players to have taken part in all six of Maccabi’s previous appearances, but only them and center Nikola Vujcic were active in Maccabi’s last Final Four game against CSKA in the 2006 title game. Meanwhile, Montepaschi is in its third Final Four since its first appearance in 2003. History will be made, as Maccabi Elite will be playing in its record 10th Final Four, the most of any team since the start of the Final Four era in 1988. Montepaschi enters the Final Four in great shape, as it just won the Italian League regular season with a 31-3 record, the best one in competition history. It is all set for a unique game, as Montepaschi will look for its first Euroleague final while Maccabi is in search of its sixth European club title.

HEAD TO HEAD