The two stars showed why they are the frontrunners for the MVP of the Month award
Baldwin, Nebo remain on fire as Maccabi dreams of top-six finish
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 32 of 34
Group Regular Season
w
w
w
w
w
l
l
w
l
l
Being able to lean on Wade Baldwin and Josh Nebo must be a pretty nice feeling for Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv head coach Oded Kattash.
In Wednesday night’s 90-75 win over Valencia Basket, the Maccabi tactician was able to witness Baldwin and Nebo take over the game at different points as Maccabi secured its 19th win of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season and its sixth in a row.
Baldwin, Nebo playing at an MVP level
There has been no stopping Baldwin and Nebo, in particular, over the last month or so, which should result in one of the Maccabi men ending up with the EuroLeague's MVP of the Month award for March. Both players finished with a 23 PIR in the Valencia victory, with Baldwin posting 17 points, 3 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals while Nebo had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, which is further evidence of the impact this tandem is having on games at the moment.
Nebo reached double figures in points for an eighth straight game, compared to 17 consecutive games for Baldwin, and it doesn’t look like there’s any stopping them at the moment. As Baldwin explained to the TV cameras after the Valencia win, though, Maccabi has no plans to slow down any time soon as it goes in search of a top-six place, which would guarantee direct access to the playoffs.
“We’ve got to win the next two games in order to make the top six and hope some teams lose on top [of that],” said Baldwin. “We’re doing what we need to do and winning the games that are there for us. We have two more – obviously we’d like to finish out with two [more] wins.”
Maccabi's role players stepped up
The sign of a good team is one that has bench players regularly stepping up at different points of the game, and there were winning plays made by Maccabi’s players time and time again on Wednesday night.
In the first quarter, Maccabi big man Jasiel Rivero reminded his former team of his quality by scoring 6 points in just 3:29 minutes on the court. Then, in the second period, Bonzie Colson and Antonius Cleveland both got off the mark with 6 points apiece, as did ex-Valencia power forward James Webb, who netted 5 second-quarter points. That output, particularly in the second quarter, allowed Maccabi to make it a double-digit ballgame, with the hosts leading 48-38 at the interval.
Another role player who made his presence felt was team captain John DiBartolomeo, who wreaking havoc in the final minutes of the third quarter. First, he scored a tough mid-range jumper as the shot clock was about to expire to put Maccabi 66-53 ahead, which must have been incredibly frustrating for Valencia. Then, shortly after, he stole the ball from Semi Ojeleye in Valencia’s backcourt before having it passed back to him for a corner three as Maccabi set what was then a new game-high lead of 16 points, 71-55.
The final quarter saw Baldwin and Nebo put the game to bed, but Maccabi regularly got timely contributions from almost its entire roster against Valencia. Come the final buzzer, Maccabi’s starters had contributed 52 of the team’s 90 points, with the bench adding 43. That is the type of thing that will please Coach Kattash, especially with postseason basketball not far away.