Maccabi Tel Aviv tips off against Milano on Thursday (21:05) as the yellow-and-blue will look to try to improve on their 5-14 record in Euroleague play thus far this season. It’s no doubt been a tough campaign for Oded Katash and his club as they have struggled to win games and find a way to compete for a postseason spot which seems to be way out of reach at this point.
 
There have been players coming and players going as well as plenty of injuries that have marred Maccabi’s season in one way or another. The yellow-and-blue finished the first round of games in the Israeli league in first place which is important for the club as that will give them home court advantage in the playoffs. This has been a huge help to Katash’s crew over the past two seasons when they beat Hapoel Tel Aviv in a decisive 3rd game at Yad Eliyahu with their fans cheering them on and could once again we key this season.

 
However, the domestic league is lengthy and the Euroleague is still going to be there for the next 3 months with 15 games to go which means Maccabi needs to buckle down and try and do their best and finish as high as they can in the standings. How high can they get is not really the issue right now, but it’s game by game to try and just move up to a respectable place.
 
The Sports Rabbi asked Captain John Dibartolomeo how the players can continue to keep plugging away despite the chances of heading to the postseason being almost nil.  
 
“We’re professionals and were competitors and this is the mentality you have to have at Maccabi Tel Aviv. It’s something that guys learn when they are here which is the next game mentality, you play good, you play bad, there is always another game in 2-3 days and there’s not a lot of time to enjoy the wins and to be down on the losses.”
 
“A lot of guys on this team feel that they have something to prove and we have a lot of guys who are playing in Euroleague for the first time. Getting them ready, motivated and excited to play at Partizan or against Milan and against all these big clubs is not difficult. These guys came here to play and just because we are down in the standings the motivation and drive to prove themselves is no less.”
 
Maccabi big man Roman Sorkin also understands that there is still plenty of work to do in continental competition, “Obviously there is something to play for, otherwise we would just sit at home. Why fly to games if we don’t strive for victory? I saw an interview with Coach Obradovic at the beginning of the season, who said that when they say ‘the season is over,’ it should add motivation. When people are competitive, they play until the last minute and only good can come out of that.”
 
While Maccabi just added a center in Trevion Williams, it will still take him some time to find his spot at the club and really be totally in the swing of things on both the offensive and defensive sides of the floor Katash explained, “Trevion gives us certain things, but he’s still not there 100% on both sides of the ball.” 
 
Sorkin added, “Trevion just joined us and he’s a new player, who is adapting into our system and this is very important. You can’t reinvent the wheel and he can’t understand the system in just one day. We will continue to progress step by step.”
 
Following the win over Afula, the bench boss made it clear that he was still looking to upgrade his squad and there have been plenty of rumors abound that they are trying to bring in a guard or perhaps even another forward, “This year has been very hard for us and almost impossible as we are trying to do our best. We want to sign at least another player and we are having a tough time. I’m not thrilled with how we are playing but another guard can help us as well. It’s tough to be content with this situation.”
 
However, just a few days later, Katash made a U-Turn from his comments about wanting a player as the team was about to depart for Belgrade and a date with Milano, “I think the time has come to stop this madness, it sometimes harms the players who are here and who flying across Europe for games and who have invested so much. We keep hearing that we are looking for players and at some point the ship here needs to just stabilize.”

“If it is up to me then I don’t think we need to bring in another player. I think this is doing damage at this stage and it’s the right thing to do for better or worse, we will have to do the maximum with the tools that we have and with our shortcomings. The team and the players need peace and quiet and this only creates more noise from the outside. The time has come to put an end to this, this is the moment.”

With or without another player, guard or forward or water boy, at this point Maccabi needs to focus on the here and now and look to find ways to win as many Euroleague games as they can without jeopardizing their Israeli season. Katash and his staff need to find ways to use the players that he has at his disposal including the likes of Omer Mayer who has been used sparingly. There are plenty of other players that can play more minutes whether it’s Jake Cohen, Rafi Menco, David DeJulius, Will Rayman and on and on.

See which players may be able to help next season in what will hopefully be one that opens up at home in Tel Aviv this coming October.