By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
On the injury list since spraining his ankle in Round 20 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, Lorenzo Brown could return to action in Round 24 with his former team Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet visiting Menora Mivtachim Arena Thursday.
“We will see what we can get from Lorenzo,” noted head coach Oded Kattash previewing tomorrow’s contest, specifically the American-born naturalized Spanish combo guard, “Hopefully, we will get Brown and he will play, but for sure he’s not at 100%.”
Brown, 32, averaged 16.6 points, 6.0 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.8 steals per EuroLeague contest before being forced to the sidelines. With an average PIR of 17.0 per game, he sits seventh overall.
Jarell Martin is questionable, Hassan Martin is ready
The Maccabi head coach also tagged Jarell Martin as questionable to play due to illness. Austin Hollins (knee) and Alex Poythress (hand) will stay on the injury list.
The Yellows have lost the last four meetings with the Belgrade outfit but having won nine out of ten home games in the 2022-23 edition of EuroLeague and Brown being cleared for practice and likely to get at least some minutes are positive signs. At 12-11, they are part of a four-way tie stretching from seventh to tenth place in the standings.
The team coached by Dusko Ivanovic has dropped to 10-13 with four losses in a row and is 4-8 on the road this season. Stuck to the injury list in recent weeks, Hassan Martin (knee) traveled to Tel Aviv and is ready to return to action.
“Many teams face problems in the first quarter against Maccabi in Tel Aviv, because they start very aggressive and if you are not ready they can get a big advantage,” pointed out Ivanovic, “We know what to expect and have to respond to that.”
Wrapping up the schedule before the break to EuroLeague’s season, both sides will switch to domestic cups next week looking to add to their respective extended lists of titles.