Maccabi Tel Aviv took home their 46th Israel State Cup by downing Hapoel Jerusalem 87-72 in the capital city for their first cup since the 2021 season. That year saw the yellow-and-blue defeat a Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion team that played with only one import due to a conflict with Hamas in Gaza as a number of their foreign players decided to leave the country when the missiles started to fly.

While that was not the fault of Maccabi Tel Aviv, many have felt that the title won in 2021 was not up to par with other State Cup victories which is definitely understandable. With that, the only player on that yellow-and-blue team at the time that is still with the club today was its captain John Dibartolomeo.

The guard has no doubt been a part of the team’s success since joining Maccabi in 2017 and has helped the club to 6 Israeli League titles, two deep quarterfinal runs in the Euroleague but just with the lone State Cup in 2021. Add on to that back-to back losses in the cup final to the same Hapoel Jerusalem the past two seasons and a chance for the reds to 3-peat, and Dibartolomeo and company knew they would need to dig down deep and give everything they had in order to take home the hardware.

However, by capturing the State Cup with a semifinal win over Hapoel Tel Aviv and then beating Hapoel Jerusalem in the title game, there is no question that Dibartolomeo has cemented his legacy with Maccabi Tel Aviv as captain and he will go down in the annals of the club’s history as one of the most beloved players.

All in all not bad for the naturalized Israeli who was born and bred in the United States and made Aliyah in 2015 and began his journey with Maccabi Haifa, led them to the 2017 finals and then joined the yellow-and-blue where he has been ever since.

With that, The Sports Rabbi spoke to Dibartolomeo in the lockerroom as champagne flowed about Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash finally winning a Cup with the yellow-and-blue, the third quarter that absolutely put away any doubt as to who would win the game along with how crucial some of his teammates were in the victory, but above all how important it was to bring the trophy home in the midst of a very tough season.

“It feels great,” Dibartolomeo began with a huge smile. “This has been a tough season for us and the cup is always a tough challenge. I’m really proud of how the team played this week and how we responded and we were able to come out on top.”

As for winning the cup to cement his legacy, the ever modest captain admitted that this was a crucial piece to his career but as always wanted to shift the kudos over to the entire club.

“It’s really important, but I never really want to think about my own legacy, the focus has always been on the team and because of the season we had this was even more important. The path that we had to take to get here was tough. Hapoel Tel Aviv is a very good team this year, Hapoel Jerusalem also a very good team this year, so it was a tough road and it makes it a little but sweeter.”

The key part of the game was an absolute knockout by Maccabi Tel Aviv in the third quarter as the yellow-and-blue sliced and diced their way through a confused Hapoel Jerusalem defense and went on to break the game wide open with a 30-14 period. Dibartolomeo made it clear that the discussion at the break was all about making sure that there would be no let down and a big push to secure the cup no matter what the reds were going to throw at them.

“At halftime we spoke about how they come out in third quarters and what happened last time we had a cup game with them in the third quarter. It was definitely highlighted and it wasn’t just important to start the game well but to start the third well which we have struggled with this season. The five that went out there ran away with it, we were kind of watching and excited to see how well that they were playing together with energy and aggressiveness, it was fun to see.”

One of Dibartolomeo’s backcourt mates this season is Lithuanian Rokas Jokubaitis who has slowly but surely started to come out of his shell under Head Coach Oded Katash. This week seemed to really have been his coming out party with 27 points and an MVP performance against Hapoel Tel Aviv which was followed up by 20 points in the title game to capture yet another MVP. But above all is Jokubaitis’s demeanor and care he has had for Maccabi all season long to go along with a maturity well beyond his years. This has left a lasting impression on the captain.

“I’m super proud as to how Rokas played in the derby especially I thought was inspiring. I told him he’s taken such great steps this year, he’s a great kid, a great player and he wants to get better and wants to learn. No one can believe that he is 24, his composure and I don’t even think he has started to hit his prime yet.”

Another one of Dibartolomeo’s new teammates, Levi Randolph was also a critical piece of the puzzle in this cup final as the former Hapoel Jerusalem captain wanted to pick up his third cup in a row. With that, the guard explained how for the entire run up to the State Cup Final Four, Randolph was pushing his teammates behind the scenes in order to ensure that everyone was on the same page and in position to give their best performance when the chips were all on the table for the taking.

“It’s a really big moment for Levi, he’s amazing in cups. I don’t know what it is about him, he takes his game to another level. He was great all week, more vocal and getting on guys and making sure that everyone was going to get to the level that he’s at when he is in these knockout games. He was huge for us this week and was leader on and off of the floor. I’m happy he’s on our side for the cup.”

Last but not least, Dibartolomeo wanted to recognize Maccabi Head Coach Oded Katash who not only won his first cup with the club, but also gives him a bit of satisfaction is what has been a very difficult season in the Euroleague and beyond.

“I’m always happy for Oded and the entire coaching staff and the entire organization. It’s been a very tough year and all my time at Maccabi it’s been the most challenging. We feel that we deserve to win these types of things and it doesn’t always go your way and for him to come out and have huge Derby win in what I thought was an amazing game and then here to to only win but to win in the fashion that we did. I’m happy for Oded that he was able to get the cup that he deserves.”