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Both teams defeated in league games last weekend

If Laboral lost, something very interesting would happen - they'd lose three home games at the beginning of the season in three different competitions, Supercup, ABC league and Euroleague

Laboral i Maccabi played last season in the Top 16 stage. The Basque were lead by Zan Tabak and, during the prime time of the season, won 71-70 in Israel, but they lost 66-32 in a more important game, on their own court.

Maccabi are a much better team than last season. Play Rice, forward Ingles, center Sofoklis Schortsanitis and forward Tyus are important reinforcement that will make Maccabi even more dangerous. With key players from last season like point guard Hickman - he played great Eurobasket for Gruzia - shooting guard Devin Smith, who can play the defense against the opponent playmaker, then Pnini, Ohayon, center Shawn James, they make a team who can afford to fight for the quarter finals.

And what about Laboral? In all honesty, Laboral brought Sergio Scariolo. Period. Those who watch basketball know what that means, and those who don't, we can explain it in two words - not good.

Laboral opened the season with a fiasco against Barcelona in the Supercup in front of their fans (-25), then last Sunday lost in a home game and ABC league opener to Gran Canaria. In the end in overtime, but they were 15 scores behind. Facing the arrival of Maccabi, they are without important center Daniel Clark, who has been absent due to an injury.

- Even though we lost, some steps forward were evident, and today we must make even bigger steps if we want to compete against such a strong rival. We won't be able to win unless we give our all - announces Sergio Scariolo, who talked about the shaky start against Gran Canaria, something that shouldn't happen in the future.

Besides Clark, Hanga and Mainoldi are also injured, which means a lot of minutes for Hamilton in the center position and Nocioni in the four position.

- Maccabi are a team full of American players who cause a lot of trouble in defense, so we have to play smart offense and strong defense, so they could run a lot. It is important to start with a home win - announced Fernando San Emeterio.

If Laboral lost, something interesting would happen - they'd lose three consecutive home games at the beginning of the season, in three different competitions, Supercup, ABC league and Euroleague. Scariolo definitely doesn't want that...

- We're arriving after the defeat in the league. Some say early defeats are good in order to focus, but I say defeats are never good - says Maccabi's coach David Blatt.

Maccabi were also defeated last weekend, for the first time after 23 years in the championship opener, in an away game against Hapoel Holon (83-73). They were smashed by Guni Israeli, a 29-year-old play, with 26 points and 6/7 for three points. Maccabi struggled a lot with that play position last season, Ohayon was terrible. He started against Holon, Rice got 16 minutes from the bench. Blatt's first five were Ohayon, Hickman, Ingles, Blu (he came back from a one-year retirement) and Schortsanitis. Joe Ingles, the reinforcement from Barcelona, shot 2/11 jump shot, David Blu 2/9, Ohayon 3/9...terrible night.

- Laboral have kept several good key players, like San Emeterio or Heurtel, but also brought new names like Hamilton or Hodge, who can give them a new dimension. They all know it's hard to play there, but we'll be ready and hope to win the game - Blatt remains optimistic.

Devin Smith wasn't in the roster against Hapoel, but is likely to play tonight. He will definitely replace Blu in the small forward position and give us the joy of watching interesting encounters with Andres Nocioni. Maccabi have more options than last season, Blatt's team is numerous and the sooner he arranges them, the more dangerous they are.

Scariolo should never be trusted. The man destroyed Milano last season and the way he started off in Vitoria he could do the same thing there as well. They lost at home against Barcelona 25 and were losing about 15 points against Gran Canaria and then lost in overtime. Today they are facing a better team than Gran Canaria who left them with 71 and 62 points last season. These 62 were in the same arena where they play today and then Maccabi won in the Top 16 phase 66-62. The Israelis started the championship with a loss against Hapoel Holon but without their best defensive player Smith who will be in rotation this evening. I think they have a better team than Laboral and a far better coach and I wouldn't be surprised if they won. Ingles will be a great reinforcement for them, Smith will cover Nocioni, Rice can block both Hodge and Heurtel, Hickman is a better shot than Jelinek and Causuer... Maccabi are a better defensive team than Scariolo's Laboral so I will take the Spaniards under 79 points.