BREAKING NEWS

Basketball: Maccabi Tel Aviv closing in on Tabak appointment

Croatian Zan Tabak is set to be named as the new head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, which finally returned to winning ways on Saturday night with an 89-74 victory over Ironi Ness Ziona in BSL action at Yad Eliyahu Arena.
Maccabi will pay a buyout estimated at around 100,000 euros to release the 45-year-old former NBA center from his contract at Montakit Fuenlabrada of the Spanish league, which he only joined this past summer.
After a successful playing career which included three consecutive European titles at Split and stints at the Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers, Tabak moved into coaching in 2006 as an assistant at Real Madrid. He has experience at taking over a struggling side mid-season after joining Laboral Vitoria in November 2012 and leading the team on a 17-game winning streak in the Euroleague and Spanish league, reaching the quarterfinals of the Euroleague.
However, his contract wasn’t extended and he returned to Real Madrid as an assistant before leaving for Fuenlabrada.
Tabak will sign a contract until the end of next season, with Maccabi having an exit clause at the end of this season for an unknown sum.
Maccabi is hoping Tabak will already be able to guide the team in Thursday’s Euroleague game against CSKA Moscow at Yad Eliyahu, with the yellowand- blue on the verge of failing to qualify for the Top 16 for the first time ever.
Maccabi fell to 1-4 in Group D following an 84-73 defeat to Darussafaka Istanbul at Yad Eliyahu on Thursday in assistant coach Avi Even’s first game at the helm following the sacking of Guy Goodes three days earlier.