This is it! The matchup basketball fans across the country have been waiting for!

Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv! Tel Aviv Derby!

Ofer Yannay’s all-star studded squad against the back-to-back league champs!

2x Euroleague championship Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis and former Israeli star Oded Katash who was his one time play roughly 25 years ago at Panathinaikos.

The EuroCup team versus the Euroleague side!

If you’re a basketball fan it doesn’t get any better than this!

The place to be on Sunday night at 9pm is no doubt Yad Eliyahu for what will no doubt be a historical game between the two bitter rivals.

This happens to be the first time that the Reds will be coming in as favorites for a road Derby as the yellow-and-blue have been struggling mightily coming off of a Euroleague double week sweep in which they lost both games. In addition to their 4-10 record in continental competition this season, Katash has been playing with an incomplete roster and one that will now be without Jasiel Rivero who has a hamstring tear and will be out 4-6 weeks after having just come back from injury.

“This week is just as important as last week,” Katash said, “It’s disappointing to lose two games, but we played against good teams (Barcelona and Paris). I liked the reaction between the first game and the second. We are in a very intense competition and we have to do consistent and precise work for 40 minutes. It turns out we are not there right now.”

“It doesn’t matter [that we aren’t favorites],” Katash continued. “There is no doubt that what has occurred over at Hapoel Tel Aviv in recent years and certainly this past summer is a statement. These are the facts, they are a really good team and this is a Euroleague game at a high level for all intents and purposes. There will be a basketball game here with good teams and good players on the court. We will see how it develops.”

Itoudis’s situation is one that is totally different with as they would say an embarrassment of riches where he has the luxury of selecting his 5 imports and sitting 3 of them in what seems to be a reversal of roles between the two teams. But of course, his biggest challenge is to get his team into the tip-top shape he wants to see them in as quickly as possible in order to ensure that they make their mark both in Europe and in Israel.

“My biggest game is to beat the time,” Itoudis began. “To beat the injuries to beat the illnesses, when I say to beat the time it’s about implementing new things and having a new system. I’m happy with how we played the game versus Joventut because the players reacted to coaches instructions, we boxed out well, we controlled the boards and we shared 27 assists so that’s progress.”

“Coming up is a different game, we play against Maccabi on the road. I know the expectations I know the derby but still as I said we are in the process of trying to make changes on the way we think, the way were playing and the habits which will take time. But fight is something you need to have in such games.”

Bringing it all to the table and leaving it all on the court will be key in any type of Derby as Itoudis stated but also the fans will play a part in the energy that will surround the players, an energy that will hopefully be positive for both sides.

“I’m really looking forward to the atmosphere here,” Maccabi veteran Jake Cohen who has been part of plenty of Derbies over the year. “I’m sure there will be an incredible energy here. We haven’t played in front of a full house here in Tel Aviv this season, so it’s very exciting.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv captain Bar Timor expressed the same sentiments, “We are preparing and excited, we know the meaning for the fans and for the club. I don’t think there is anything to explain, the new players are not disconnected from the world either and they will feel what a derby is. They probably know what it is, we saw clips from last year and they understand the meaning. But it’s best for them to feel it themselves.”

“We know how important the game is to the team, the club and the fans,” Maccabi Tel Aviv captain John Dibartolomeo commented. “It has a special meaning. I think it will be a tough game, they have a very talented squad. They brought in a new coach, played very well against Badalona. It’s a challenge and I’m excited, these are games you want to play in. We expect to play in a full Arena in what will be a great atmosphere, I want it to be a good game.”

Itoudis is familiar with the Tel Aviv Derby as he attended one of the games last year at the Drive In Arena, “I was at game two and I watched the other games on TV. I was at the game where Hapoel played an impressive game they were dominant and they tied the series. But now it’s completely different teams from the last year because there are different creators, different style of play. Obviously there are things that we can consider but last year is last year and this year is this year.”

The Reds has a top level squad that they will be bringing to this game whether it’s Israelis Tomer Ginat and Yam Madar along with foreigners, Patrick Beverley, Ish Wainright, Marcus Foster and others.

“Hapoel has the talent of the Euroleague team, we know what we will face,” added Cohen. “I know we will come prepared, we have prepared well. We have had many challenges this season and we have faced them, our preparation gives us a high chance of winning.”

Although Hapoel are the favorites, Timor doesn’t even want to go there, “We don’t deal with favorites, it’s not even a thought in our heads. I don’t think it’s something that should add pressure on us as we’re concentrating on ourselves. We have been with a new coach now for a period of time and we really believe in ourselves.”

“We are very excited,” Dibartolomeo said. “This is a game that we are looking forward to. We are focused on playing and winning the derby like we have done in recent years. What people say and what the chances are is out of our control.”

Jake Cohen isn’t really bothered by the issue of favorites, “Everyone on the team has played big games during their careers, even if not in a Maccabi Tel Aviv uniform. Everyone here has played in big games in the past. The reason these players are here is that they were probably successful in these games and in situations like this. Everyone here knows how important this game is for the club and for the fans.”

While Maccabi may not be the Maccabi that many of the fans are used to and the one that won two straight Derby League Championship series as well as a team that doesn’t have the individual star level that Hapoel has on their roster, Itoudis understands that basketball is not just a game that is played by individual players.

“Maccabi is most dangerous as a team.”

And to that, may the best team win!