Cover Photo Credit: Euroleague & Yehuda Halickman

A clash between 1^st and 19^th on the table usually isn’t something to get excited about. However, Wednesday night at 21:05 Israel time (14:05 Eastern time) will be different, with Hapoel Tel Aviv – sitting in first 1^st place with 2 wins from the first two rounds – hosting Maccabi Tel Aviv – one of three winless teams – in a historical first EuroLeague derby matchup at Arena 8888 Sofia in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Itoudis: “Very tough game, as every game, especially because it’s our rival in the league as well,” Hapoel coach Dimitris Itoudis said prior to the game. “We know each other, we know the importance, but it’s important that it’s a EuroLeague game.”

“I think it’s more a historical day for Hapoel Tel Aviv than Maccabi Tel Aviv,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said. “Of course, two Israeli teams are meeting, but Maccabi Tel Aviv has been in the EuroLeague many years. For Hapoel it’s more of a celebration. But we need to adjust our preparation for the event.”

“For sure, I’ve been on the other side before,” Hapoel (and former Maccabi) guard Chris Jones said of the importance of the derby. “I know the type of energy that this type of game brings. It’s the first one, EuroLeague, so we’re expecting a great atmosphere and a lot of energy in this game.

“I like this side a lot better,” Jones continued, comparing his feelings about the two teams. “Like I said, we’re excited. It’s going to be a lot of excitement and ready for tomorrow.”

“I believe they understand, even towards the end of the Paris game, they [teammates] started hearing about the derby,” Maccabi captain John DiBartolomeo said, anticipating the magnitude of the contest a little differently to his coach. “This week there have been a lot of reminders from outside noise and inside noise. They understand it’s a rivalry, they understand it’s the first derby in the EuroLeague ever. It’s hard to put into words the significance of it, but I believe the guys are ready and they’re up for the challenge. It’s exciting to be part of history.”

Hapoel is coming into the game off two strong victories last week, the first a 103-87 win over Barcelona, the second a come-from-behind win over Anadolu Efes 87-81.

“I’m not surprised – we’re good, we’re in a good way, we had a good reaction, nothing is given,” Itoudis said. “We go inside and win things. We had a very bad start against Efes, but we managed in the third and fourth quarter to change our mindset, to change our approach on defense and on offence and we won the game.”

“I’ve got great teammates to back me up,” Jones responded when asked about his strong individual performances in the first two rounds, averaging 10.5 points, 1 rebound, 1.5 assists and 1 steal off the bench. “We won, regardless of how my individual play was. That’s the most important thing. I’m going tomorrow with the same energy. Like I said, it’s going to be a little more energy than normal and come out with a victory.”

Maccabi, on the other hand, suffered disappointing losses to Paris Basketball 94-101 and to Anadolu Efes 78-85.

“First, it’s always fun to win and not to lose,” Katash said of the team’s start to the season. “So of course we want to win. We’re coming in after a painful loss, because in terms of experience and aggression we weren’t there, I think we lost the game there.”

“Obviously momentum is a big thing in basketball and we wish we had more positive momentum going into the game,” DiBartolomeo said. “That being said, I think the two games last week gave us more of a wakeup call. Sometimes it takes a punch in the face to wake guys up. I thought we responded well in practice this week and we’ll see how the game goes tomorrow.”

While on paper Hapoel seems to be a much stronger team this season, Itoudis is remaining poised and focused on the task at hand, conscious that it’s still very early in the season: “We’re playing against a very good important they’re done, we didn’t achieve anything. We had a good start, which justified the means and justified the course. We’re in a good position, but we have 36 games to go.”

“Pretty much, 2-0, 0-2, everything is the same – it’s a marathon,” Itoudis continued. “It’s a very important game for us. You know me already. Do I look to you arrogant that I’m approaching games arrogantly? No. Every game has its importance, this even more so because it’s a derby, it’s our rival. But still, it’s a EuroLeague game and a EuroLeague game means a lot. So all the teams are very tough teams to beat.”

“It’s been one week,” DiBartolomeo said, seemingly with a similar mindset. “Obviously you want to start better, but if we were 20-0 and they were 0-20 and we had a derby in the EuroLeague, nothing else would matter and that’s the same thing going into this game. Nothing else mattered before and nothing else matters after. Right now, we’re completely focused on Wednesday and the derby. That’s always been the approach when you have derbies, now it’s just a EuroLeague one.”

“I don’t think so,” Jones responded when asked if there’s any additional pressure because the teams are at opposite ends of the table. “I think we go in and continue to execute offensively and defensively like we’ve been doing. Just do what we do best and give ourselves a good chance of winning the game.”

“It’s a EuroLeague game which is important, beginning of the season and until now we have not shown that we can play great basketball,” Katash said. “I can’t be sure that it’ll happen tomorrow, but we need to come with a lot more aggression and commitment. We’re playing against a high quality team, they didn’t by chance defeat two good teams already. But we need to come to the game with energy and do extra. We know how much the game and a derby is important to our fans.