Hapoel Tel Aviv held its opening press conference for the upcoming Israeli and European campaigns at the Drive In on Monday. The speakers at the press conference included captain Bar Timor, coach Stefanos Dedas, professional director George Hinas, majority owner Ofer Yannay, chairman Rami Cohen and CEO Tzhachi Reichenstein.

With big signings over the summer, including Jonathan Motley and Patrick Beverley, there was a lot to discuss.

“This is an exciting summer,” Yannay started. We had an exceptional summer. We did a lot off the court. The responsibility of everyone here is to reach our peak with a title and bring the first title of this season.

“To the fans and the crowd, the amount invested is unlimited,” Yannay continued. “We don’t feel the effort without the crowd. Everything began with Stef [Dedas] and with Motley, the ability to bring him, to bring [reigning Winner League Defensive Player of the Year Guy] Palatin and Noam Yaacov. They had other options and they preferred to sign with us. So all the players that you know are exceptional, that you weren’t able to imagine them in the EuroCup or with Hapoel Tel Aviv in the past. At the end of the day that’s what was brought, we have a special team today.”

Yannay also emphasized that there is a lot of hard work ahead: “Lots of money was invested, but I’m here to remind us that the aim to take the championships is not about money, but rather the effort. At the moment it’s with the players, in the hands of the professional staff, the administrative staff and also with us as a community of fans. I remind you that our last championship was in 1969 and since then we haven’t seen a championship. This has to change and it will change if we stick together. In addition [to the Winner League], we want to take the EuroCup and be promoted to the EuroLeague.”

“The purpose has always been to progress every year and to take Hapoel to where we can,” Cohen said. “This summer it was the largest due to Ofer. We took a lot of steps together. We needed to do things quicker and this brought challenges. With our fantastic existing staff, together with the addition of new people – Tzhachi and George – we can get to where we want to. We mainly need to work quietly and give the players what they need structurally. We need to keep them focused, both during the good times and the more stressful periods.”

“First of all, I want to start by thanking Ofer and Rami who brought me here, bringing me here at the head of this important and demanding season,” Hinas said when he was introduced. “After we finished last season, after looking at the roster, we saw top level Israeli players like Bar and Tomer. Our first thought was to create a base of more Israeli players and I believe that we succeeded in this aspect. It’s important to have people understand how important it is to play for this club and to understand what Hapoel means – I’m confident we did that. Then we needed to bring in guys who can handle the pressure, guys who are motivated. This doesn’t have anything to do with age. You see guys like Patrick Beverely, he was playing with Stef [Dedas] 11 years ago. Motivation was one key, to be hungry. Then guys who bring energy to the court no matter the rival, and then to bring guys who want to win. We closed the roster with the signing of Bruno [Caboclo]. We’ve had a good preseason so far, putting the elements and details together. To be honest, I look at the team like we structured it. I’m optimistic about it, but we have to understand that every day matters, every game matters. That’s how you need to approach when playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv. It’s going to be a long season, we want to keep everyone together and fight the competitions.”

“First of all, I’m happy to see so many people here, not only when we lose a game – try to come more often after wins, we have good food,” Dedas joked to the press when introduced. “It’s the beginning of the season, George mentioned similar things I would like to say. It’s a big opportunity for me as a coach and for the players to do something special this year with Hapoel Tel Aviv. We will try to win trophies and put our names in the history of the club. Very important, above contracts and above money, is to claim something that many people will talk about for years to come.

“My job – you’ll ask me later how to manage this roster with these players,” Dedas continued, talking about the caliber of the players. “But I’m very confident, I’m working hard with my players and connect the team, to try to find the combination of the roster, the units on the court that can be more efficient and balanced, play very good defense and offense. It’s not an easy job, but as you know me, the club has known me for half a year, some of you know me many years. I will do everything – I have character and I’m not afraid of any challenge. I will give everything to June when we close the season, to see some trophies left and right and some banners.”

“It’s great to be here and open the new season,” Timor said. “For me and the players, we are thankful for the investment that has been made to build the season during a period which is not easy for the country and of course for sport. We are with the best team both daily and professionally. We have everything, everything to be able to be focused and to focus on our goals here. We said this from the first day; we will be focused only on basketball and bringing trophies. We want it to be a season that will be remembered. Good luck to everyone.”

Yannay, founder, chairman and controlling shareholder of renewable energy company OY Nofar Energy, is a self-described Zionist. At the press conference, he indicated that being able to bring in the squad of foreign players is something that not only a proud achievement for Hapoel Tel Aviv, but also for the State of Israel. When prompted, he elaborated on how he sees the Hapoel’s potential reach around the world.

“Sport is a great way to create effective diplomacy and we’re not doing it enough,” Yannay started. “Sport allows you to connect emotionally to the team and through that you connect to Israel. For me, to bring those players this year, it was a response to October 7, because our enemies tried to break our spirit. So to answer them this way, I’m showing that our spirit is not broken. I believe that Hapoel won’t be a brand only in Israel, but other countries as well. With respect to TV rights, we’re working on the ability to broadcast games outside of Israel to create connections. For me, it’s simple – I want this team to be a club that everyone can be proud of in the way that we achieve things, because we want to win and win in the right way.”

One of the talking points over the summer has been whether Hapoel will move its home games from The Drive In – a stadium which seats 3,500 – to Maccabi’s home stadium at Yad Eliyahu – which has a capacity of close to 11,000 fans. While this was not answered in the press conference, on Monday evening Yannay Tweeted about a meeting he held with the Tel Aviv Municipality about an expansion to The Drive In, together with a video of the vision for The Drive In as expanded.

“I’m taking off tomorrow for a diplomatic trip to Europe and the USA for Nofar [Energy],” the Tweet started. “Before I take off, it was important for me to provide an update, that right now we finished a long meeting with the Tel Aviv Municipality regarding the expansion of The Drive In to 10,000 seats. The main direction is positive, we will wait a few days for an official notice and asking for tenders. Until then, here is a peak into the future.”

As Yannay said in the press conference, it was an exciting summer in which Hapoel achieved a lot off the court. There is a lot of anticipation at Hapoel to see what the team will be able to do this upcoming season and beyond. It will be interesting to see what they will achieve and how this season will be viewed in the future.