After three straight EuroLeague home games, Olimpia is returning on the road for its seventh road battle, the third in Belgrade – this time, however, against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The game will be staged in a Serbian basketball temple, the old Pionir, now named after the legendary Asa Nikolic. It is a game against an archrival. Maccabi has lost five of its last six games, while Olimpia won four of its last five, whatever that means. In Belgrade, Maccabi has been able to defeat Real Madrid and during this first section of the season defeated league leading Hapoel. Olimpia is coming to this game with a total balnaced record: it is 6-6 overall, 3-3 at home, 3-3 on the road, 1-1 in Belgrade. Maccabi lost its last game in Bologna but three key players were not available, the sharpshooter Lonnie Walker IV, power forward Jaylen Hoard and TJ Leaf, a big who is having a remarakle season in his EuroLeague rookie year. Walker and Hoard will be on the court against Olimpia. To the contrary, Maccabi won’t have Jeff Dowtin Jr, who got injured during the last Israeli league game and will be out for a few weeks. Olimpia just recovered Josh Nebo – who has only three EuroLeague appearances, so far, two wins – next to Devin Booker and Zach LeDay. So, the team will be deeper inside. Nate Sestina and Lorenzo Brown, whose return should be imminent, won’t be available. Stefano Tonut is not with the team because he went to the National team. However, with Brown out, Quinn Ellis over the last eight games averaged 11.4 points and 5.5 assists per game and shot over 58 percent on threes. Obviously, he will be the first game coach by Peppe Poeta. He coached the team twice but replacing Ettore Messina. This is different.

NOTES – Maccabi Tel Aviv-Olimpia Milano will be played on November 26th, in Belgrade at the Asa Nikolic Hall, formerly known as Pionir.

THE REFEREES – Carlos Peruga (Spain), Gytis Vilius (Lithuania), Marcin Kowalski (Poland).

COACH PEPPE POETA- “We face a very offensively gifted team who lost most of its games by close margins, so they are better than the record indicates. We need to be very good in our transition defense and work as well as possible against their big men versatility. Offensively, we are looking to have a good pace and keep our flow.”

MACCABI TEL AVIV OUTLOOK – Coached by former Israeli legendary guard Oded Katash, Maccabi is a team with a strong American influence and plenty of talent, especially among the perimeter players. Usually, the starting point guard is Tamir Blatt, son of former Maccabi coach David Blatt (who won the 2014 EuroLeague title in Milan), a small but aggressive and competitive player, who’s averaging 6.3 points and 5.3 assists per game. The other point guard is Jeff Dowtin Jr., who played 87 games over four NBA seasons, the last in Philadelphia, and who is less of a passer than Blatt but more of a shooter (9.9 points per game, 42.9 percent three-point shooting). The starter at the guard position is the immensely talented Lonnie Walker IV, who began the last season with Zalgiris and then returned to the NBA in Philadelphia alongside Dowtin and Brissett. Walker (13.7 points per game, 32.4 percent from three) is an explosive offensive player, particularly gifted in one-on-one situations. Despite being just 27 years old, he has already spent seven seasons in the NBA, the first five of which were in San Antonio, with 342 appearances overall. Another combo guard who was added lately is Iffe Lundberg, a Danish international who used to play for CSKA Moscow, Bologna and Partizan. The guards are rounded out by Jimmy Clark (5.6 points and 3.8 assists per game), who played last year for Bnei Hertzelya in Israel, and the veteran John DiBartolomeo (3.4 points and 1.5 assists in 12.2 minutes on the court), another competitive, aggressive on the ball defender. The starting small forward is Oshae Brissett (currently averaging 9.0 points and 5.1 rebounds), also a six-year NBA veteran with 233 games played, two seasons ago in Boston during their championship run and last year in Philadelphia. His backup is Will Rayman (2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in nine minutes on the court). At power forward, Jaylen Hoard has been one of Maccabi’s most reliable players for the past two years, with his two-way game and great outside shooting. Hoard is Katash’s most used player, playing 28.3 minutes per game with 13.1 points on 54.9 percent shooting from two, 44.4 percent from three, and 7.1 rebounds per outing. Both Brissett and Rayman can play power forward when needed, as can TJ Leaf (9.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, 64.4 percent from two, 50.0 percent from three), who is a great offensive rebounder thanks to his timing and position. Leaf, who attended UCLA in the U.S., played four seasons in China before transferring to Maccabi. Katash also uses him as a center behind starter Roman Sorkin, a key member of the national team, who is averaging 12.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, shooting 62.4 percent from two, and a lively player in the paint, active in offensive rebounding. The other center is the Brazilian international Marcio Santos (7.5 points per game, shooting 63.2 percent from two), also dangerous from the arc (11 of 18 so far), in his second season in Europe (his first was in Ulm, Germany).

THE MACCABI CONNECTION – Josh Nebo’s played for Maccabi for two seasons, appearing in 78 EuroLeague games. In two years, he scored 724 points and grabbed 517 rebounds. Lorenzo Brown also played two seasons for Maccabi, appearing in 73 EuroLeague games, scoring 1,076 points and dishing out 423 assists.