Maccabi Tel Aviv extends with Guy Pnini

Turkish Airlines Euroleague runners-up Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv has renewed its contract with one of the team's playoffs heroes, swingman Guy Pnini, for three seasons until 2014, the club announced Thursday. Last season, Pnini (2.01 meters, 27 years old) averaged 7.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 22 Euroleague appearances. He was also Maccabi's third-best scorer in Maccabi's semifinal victory over Real Madrid to reach this season's Euroleague title game, which they lost to Panathinaikos last month. Pnini made the most three-point shots at the 2011 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four, with 6 total, and he ranked fourth overall for the season in three-point shooting accuracy, making 45.8% of his attemps. Although he grew up in the club's junior system, Pnini only arrived to Maccabi main team in 2009, at age 26. He had made his professional debut at Maccabi Raanana in 2001 and two years later he moved to Bnei Hasharon. In 2006 he was signed by Hapoel Jerusalem, the team with which he made his ULEB Cup debut. Two years later he moved to Serbia to join FMP. In January of 2009, he went to Cyprus to play with Keravnos and the following year he would joing Maccabi Tel Aviv for his Euroleague debut. Pnini stepped up in Game 4 of the quarterfinal playoffs series against Caja Laboral this season by setting three career-highs - in performance index rating, points and assists - in the victory that sent Maccabi to the Final Four in Barcelona. Later this spring, he became Israeli League champion for the first time, to go along with four Israeli Cups, two each won with Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv.