Maccabi Tel Aviv gets back to Euroleague action when it visits Alba Berlin on Thursday night as it looks to get back into the continental groove following a three-week break.Heading into the clash in Germany, the yellow-and-blue had lost three straight games and had seen its record drop to 13-13 for an even .500 with eight games remaining in the regular season.
While Oded Katash’s squad sits in 10th place, which is just good enough to participate in the Play-In Playoff for one of the last quarterfinal spots, there are five teams breathing down Tel Aviv’s neck as the league heads into the stretch run.
Maccabi’s schedule is not a tough one, and should it go a very manageable 6-2 over the final games – with only two of its opponents over .500 – it may qualify for the playoffs directly and not have to take part in the Play-In.However, the club’s home games are still being played in Belgrade and not in the friendly confines of Yad Eliyahu in Tel Aviv due to the ongoing war with Hamas, and that will still be a cause for concern as Maccabi attempts to play its best basketball.
Earned rest after achieving first place
On the positive side, Maccabi has won eight straight Israeli league games, which has vaulted it into first place in the domestic league, and it will attempt to carry that momentum into Euroleague action.In addition, the players had some time off, which allowed them to rest, recuperate from injuries, and ready themselves for a busy six weeks ahead, which will hopefully benefit Katash’s crew.
Tamir Blatt was one of the players who benefited from the international break and had been benched by the Israel Basketball Association doctor from Israel National Team duty due to injuries, while Lorenzo Brown also took some time to rest up.Unfortunately, Roman Sorkin suffered a knee injury while playing for Israel that will keep him out until at least the end of March.
“Both Tamir Blatt and Lorenzo Brown rested for a week, which did them a lot of good,” Katash said following Maccabi’s 88-71 win over Maccabi Ramat Gan. “I am happy that they came back healthy.Players have been suffering injuries the entire season, and the amount of games that they have had to play has been crazy. Unfortunately, Roman is now paying the price, and we will miss him a lot.
Stepping up
Some players will need to step it up a bit, and we may have to play a bit differently as well since we have been playing with two bigs. In an intense season like this, to keep the players healthy is a very big challenge.”Another player who did not spend time with the National Team was Jake Cohen, who also had a chance to reset after having played with the blue-and-white for more than half a decade in the various windows throughout the season. “For me it was really important,” Cohen commented after earning Game MVP honors with 19 points against Ramat Gan.
“The schedule for us has been so crazy, so to get four days off to be with my family and spend some time away from basketball was really important. Not only physically but also mentally, to refresh.I love my teammates; we have a great group, but it’s also nice not to see them for a little while and miss them a little bit. It was exciting to see them when we got back. It was a nice break, and for most of my career, I have never had this as I was with the National Team.So it was nice to get that break this year, and I think my play in this game showed it was a good one for me.”
Alba Berlin may sit at the bottom of the Euroleague standings with a 5-21 record, but it will still be a threat to the yellow-and-blue, Katash explained.“We aren’t coming into the Alba game in tip-top shape, but as we have all season long, we have been dealing with one difficulty or another. There are no easy games in the Euroleague.Our flight was very early on Wednesday morning, and it won’t be an easy day, but we will try to recuperate and try not to come into the game as too much of a favorite. We have to prove ourselves every single game.”
Preparing for the fire
As Maccabi prepares for money time and goes from the frying pan into the fire, so to speak, Cohen understands that the players will need to stay together as one unit for good and for bad and make sure that they don’t lose sight of the ultimate goal ahead while handling the challenges properly.
“It’s going to take a group effort,” the 33-year-old veteran forward said. “It’s not going to be one player or one coach or one thing. As a collective group, we have to stay focused and pick each other up, and I think you saw some of that in this game.
We had a few moments when guys lost their cool, or we had some bad stretches, but I think we did a good job of bouncing back as we need that kind of thing to persevere for what’s to come, and it’s going to take some positivity, and consistency and a lot of good teamwork.”Cohen reiterated that resiliency and cohesiveness are Maccabi’s keys to success.
Cohen sums up the team's attitude toward the following games with, “We have great chemistry, so I’m confident that we can do it. But we are going to need to rely on each other to have good energy and pick each other up because we know that it’s not only going to be good moments as we are going to be playing some very good teams. We are going to have bad games, so it’s going to be important how we handle each other, how we talk to each other, and how we handle those bad moments.”