Maccabi Tel Aviv will welcome Red Star Belgrade on Thursday (21:05) in a home away from home game at the Pionir Arena as they will look to improve on their 5-17 record with a dozen games left in the Euroleague regular season. With the postseason out of the question for the yellow-and-blue, Head Coach Oded Katash’s squad will look to finish off as best as they can while also focusing on the Israeli domestic competitions that remain, the State Cup and the league title.

After punching their ticket to the State Cup Final Four with a win over Nes Ziona in the quarterfinals, the players along with their bench boss may be content, but they also know that there is still plenty of basketball action that will still take place over the next 5 months.

On one hand, Maccabi still has 12 Euroleague games to go in the season and they have had some rough matchups the past few weeks where they lost by a huge margin. Questions can be asked as to where their effort will be for these games and where was it in the brutal defeats to Milano, Partizan and most recently Paris.

While Maccabi will want to do as best as they can in these games, the more important challenges that the club has left are in Israel. There are still two trophies that are on the table and both are within reach.

That is something that Katash is not going to take for granted, “We lack a little quality to compete at the highest of levels. We have had a lot of difficulties this season and being successful in the domestic competitions, to me isn’t a given. Unlike other years, many teams – not only Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem – have really strengthened and the level in Israel has improved. Even the mid-level teams – Nes Ziona, Maccabi Ramat Gan, Holon, Herzliya of course have gotten better. It can’t be taken for granted that we can just win and be successful domestically, we went through a complex and difficult period, with some unpleasant losses.”

Is it worth it to go all out against Red Star Belgrade, ALBA Berlin or Barcelona and Baskonia when there will be few fans in the stands rooting the yellow-and-blue on and with ultimately more important games at home that still need to be played?

There’s no question that this debate has to be going through the heads of the management, coaching staff and the players despite them saying all of the right things.

Does Maccabi want to win the remaining Euroleague games? Sure, without question everyone wants to win. But at what cost?

Many Euroleague teams need the wins much more than Maccabi does as they are fighting for a playoff spot, a place in the Play In or they are trying to positon themselves better for the quarterfinals that will take place in April.

It’s not just up to Maccabi, there is another very good team and in most cases better than them on the other side of the floor. But with the gaps that we have seen between the yellow-and-blue and the other teams can they be competitive? Does Maccabi have enough talent that can keep them playing other squads toe-to-toe?

Over the past month the answer to this question is an unfortunate no, although, Maccabi did show plenty of fight in what ended up being a historical game against Real Madrid but ended up being another loss.

Marial Shayok shared his feelings to The Sports Rabbi as to the remaining Euroleague games, “Everyone in the lockerroom is competitive and we naturally want to give our best and compete at a high level. It’s never a good feeling to lose and acceptable. It’s something that we are constantly trying to improve on that and each and every day, especially after a game like today it’s something that we can build for the next game.”

The reality is that Maccabi needs to fine tune their play and their roster over the next few weeks I order to head into the State Cup Final Four in prime shape as they will look to regain the trophy that they haven’t won since 2021 in a game that was lopsided due to Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion playing with only one import player due to a significant Hamas attack out of Gaza. In fact since 2018, Maccabi has only won the Cup once while after having won it 8x in a row.

Katash knows that without the collection of top flight players he had last season and the year before that, the Euroleague is a moot point and the focus has to go on what is left for the club to win.

Maccabi does have enough firepower for the Israeli league especially with an all-star player in Jaylen Hoard who has blossomed into an absolute superstar after having started his European career with Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2022. It’s crazy to think that when Hoard signed with the Reds it was as a 6th import on a short teem deal for a team that at the time was only playing with four foreigners in the Israeli league.

Katash couldn’t get his hands on a player like Hoard fast enough over the summer and developed into an absolute monster scoring 15.1 points and grabbing 5.3 rebounds per game in the Euroleague while checking in with 13.4 points and 6.2 boards in the Israeli league.

“I thought he could reach this level of play,” the bench boss said to The Sports Rabbi’s question to if Katash thought that Hoard was going to be this dominant of a player. “We really wanted Jaylen in the summer and he’s been great for us. He’s a special player, a special personality. I don’t want take too much credit but he’s an extraordinary basketball player. His character and personality makes him something very special. We’re happy he’s with us, it’s difficult for us every minute he’s not on the court. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he wasn’t with us. In the coming years, he’ll only get better and better.”

Hoard, who has played very well, raises his level to an even higher plateau when he has fans cheering him on in the stands and that has been missing for Maccabi after not having played at Yad Eliyahu in roughly a month.

“We really missed playing here in front of the crowd,” Hoard said. “The fans, they keep us going and they give us a lot of positive energy, we missed that.”

Katash added, “We haven’t played at home for a while. That’s been really missing for us, the energy that comes from our fans. You see the four teams in the Final four and it will be tough no matter who we get. But ultimately, it’s going to be an experience for the fans.”

With the ceasefire in place and the hostages returning home, there is hope that slowly but surely, day-to-day life in Israel will be getting back to normal and with that the country’s sports will as well with European competitions being played back in the Holy Land. That will take some time though and will probably occur by October 2025 when the new Euroleague season will open up. That will truly be a celebration by the fans and the clubs.

However, until then Maccabi will need to play their bets and compete for the local titles against the likes of Hapoel Tel Aviv, Hapoel Jerusalem, Bnei Herzliya and others. That’s where Katash and crew need to focus on and put in all of their efforts which include using the 12 games left in the Europleague to improve so when the State Cup is on the line as well as the league title, they will be able to take them both home.