Keep our heads up: Katash’s frustration and pride after Maccabi Tel Aviv’s tough loss to open double week

Oct 30, 2024 | Holyland Hoops

“I don’t know if I am more frustrated or more proud” – Oded Katash after Maccabi Tel Aviv fell to Fenerbahce 84-82.

Well the answer is quite simple, he can be both.

Frustrated because he doesn’t have the tools to win and proud because his team followed the game plan to a “T” and because of that came oh so close to winning. However. Close only counts in horseshoes and well, we will leave it at that.

Maccabi Tel Aviv controlled the pace of play pretty much for 35 minutes of this game and was in the lead after each quarter as well as midway through the final frame. But at that point when you are running a rotation of 8 players in the first game of a Euroleague Double Week in what is a slim roster as it is, the chances that you will be able to hold on when your opponent is using 11 players is going to be very, very tough.

“In a double week many teams play with a deeper roster and we have to do so as much as we can,” Katash said. “We did a great job for 3 quarters and I would say we tried our best in the 4th quarter but we ran out of energy. A number of players played over thirty minutes while Fenerbahce with their quality and a deep roster is what decided it in the end.”

Jaylen Hoard – Photo Credit: Rokas Snarskis


Jaylen Hoard played 34 minutes, Levi Randolph checked in with 32, Rokas Jokubaitis 29 and on and on. The only player to come close for Saras Jasikevicius’s squad was Tarik Biberovic with 28 minutes as the forwards sliced and diced up the yellow-and-blue in the 4th quarter to the tune of 10 out of his 15 points and that was that. In fact, Biberovic hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Fener in front for good at 77-76 with 4:20 left in the game and then the second less than a minute later to open up a 4-point lead that was just too much for Maccabi to come back from.

The Turkish team executed down the stretch whether it was Nigel Hayes-Davis, newcomer Skylar Mays and of course Biberovic in order to snatch the win right out from under a helpless Maccabi who could have knotted the game up at 82-82 with a minute left but saw Saben Lee miss a pair of free throws.

Maccabi barely played four of their players that had been registered for the game and are also still waiting for the rerun of Tamir Blatt and Wenyen Gabriel from injury. The latter may be back for the Real Madrid game on Thursday, but the former is still a couple of weeks away as Katash needs to find players fast in order to be able to compete at the height level for an extended period of time.

Will Rayman, who is in his first season in the Euroleague, has shown a tremendous amount of heart and hustle helping Maccabi with his intangibles, “It just shows that when we play together and we are moving and talking on defense we can be really good. I thought we were a little stagnant in the fourth quarter and not moving as much as the first three quarters and I feel that they were able to load up and guard that way. I am really proud of the guys and we are getting better and I think it will come together really soon.”

Will Rayman – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman


Totally understandable when you are running a short, short rotation.

That is no doubt where the frustration is for the bench boss. Management needs to provide Katash the tools in order to compete and win games and they have not. Yes, there are plenty of excuses that can be made. The war, no players available, tough market etc… but these excuses have been going now for a few months. The club knew that they were going into the season with a short squad even before Jordan Loyd departed and Saben Lee was brought who in fact really replaced Daryl Macon. There players if you want to pay for them, take a look at Hapoel Tel Aviv who have been making roster moves over the past few weeks and brought in plenty of talent.

The club really needs to take a good look in the mirror as the season is starting to slip, slide away with a record of 2-4. In reality Maccabi with just a bit more power or having Saben Lee with the team in Israel and available to practice with the squad in person and not on Zoom could be 4-2.

“Every loss feels like it was a missed opportunity but who I feel badly for the most is for the players. We were there and we put in a huge effort. This is the situation and we have to make sure we stay healthy because some players played many minutes. I hope that we can find a player to strengthen the squad and that the injured players come back and that we don’t have more injuries,” Katash explained.

Oded Katash – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman


The players laid it all out on the line without a doubt and there can be no complaints as to their effort. But this is a game that Maccabi should have won and they understand that. The question is how high is their tolerance for frustration with not having enough manpower to compete.

“It wasn’t a bad game for us,” Jokubaitis said as he returned to action after being out with a thumb injury. “We have to keep the same rhythm and if we start and play with the same mentality I think we will have a chance. Now we need some rest and learn from our mistakes and I think we will be good.”

The Lithuanian guard was upbeat and provided some hope but the reality is that Maccabi will be playing another game in 24 hours against the Euroleague finalist Real Madrid who are coming off a tough loss at Olympiacos.

“We came in ready for the game but came up short and now we have to focus on the Real Madrid game coming up. Madrid is a similar team to Fenerbahce in terms of physicality and we have to respond,” Jokubaitis added.

Photo Credit: Rokas Snarskis


Real played with a short roster as well in this game against an Olympiacos team that used the full length of the bench in what was a very similar contest that Maccabi and Fenerbahce had played. Chus Mateo’s team went into the final frame holding a lead but just couldn’t match the Olympiacos energy and were outscored 23-10 to close out the game, succumbing to a 79-69 loss to drop their season record to 3-3.

Will Maccabi be able to match up against Real Madrid, a team that they always seem to have problems with? Maybe the yellow-and-blue will be able to steal a win on their “home court” in Belgrade. It’s not an impossible task and if Katash can keep his players focused they certainly can come away with a win.

“Even though we had only a few practices with our full roster we were fighting and we were there. It was a tough loss but we have to keep our heads up. I am very proud as to what we did today.”

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