Maccabi Tel Aviv keeps core intact as hopes are high for Euroleague glory but Monaco series still stings

Sep 7, 2023 | Holyland Hoops

Maccabi Tel Aviv held their opening press conference for the upcoming 2023/24 season with many of the players from last season’s squad returning for a run at Euroleague glory. After wrapping up the Israeli league title in a tight series with Hapoel Tel Aviv, the management, staff, players and fans all want to see the yellow-and-blue reach the highest of heights and take home not only the domestic league championship but also the State Cup he of course the continental title for the first time since 2014.

The theme throughout is the fact that 8 players will be continuing with the club for the upcoming campaign while a number of pieces were added in order to bolster the squad to take them to the next level.

Shimon Mizrachi, Avi Even, Oded Katash – Photo Credit: Maccabi Tel Aviv


“We are happy that we were able to keep 8 players from last season,” Maccabi chairman Shimon Mizrachi began. “They were all key contributors. It hasn’t been since the time of Anthony Parker that we haven’t had this type of team that has continued for a second straight season.

New sporting director Avi Even who takes over from Nikola Vujcic enters his 17th season with the club and agreed wholeheartedly that the stability of the squad will be critical to the success of the team, “I’m very happy that we were able to keep a log of the players from last year and the ones that have joined will give everything they have on the court.”

Of course, the head coach Oded Katash is thrilled with the roster that he will have at his disposal as he spoke about the fact that last year’s team was its first together. Now it will be year two and he knows that there will be expectations to take the team to the next level.

“We’re excited, happy and proud to begin the season, there are butterflies as well but it’s going to be a lot of fun. We have a ton of players that are here for the second season as well as the staff and that’s something that I don’t take for granted. We were able to do something special last year as we jelled in the second half of the season.”

Lorenzo Brown – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman


Maccabi was able to advance to the quarterfinals of the Euroleague where they ultimately fell to Monaco in a tough five game series that went the distance, so there’s no question that Katash will want to improve on that result.

“The Euroleague has become even more competitive. Our obligation is to be better and to get even better than we were last season. We had many great memories from last season here at Yad Eliyahu and we missed it a lot over the summer as we want to once again excite the fans.”

While the yellow-and-blue may want to find a way to the Final Four this coming season which would mark the first time in a decade, the talent level has also gotten better which will be something Maccabi will need to contend with but can be overcome Jake Cohen explained.

Jake Cohen – Photo Credit: Maccabi Tel Aviv


“Regarding the talent in the Euroleague, it’s always been the case as the Euroleague has always been competitive and a high level league that you have to do something to separate yourself from the rest of the teams. I’ve said it before, everyone has a whole lot of talent in the Euroleague and every team has incredibly good players, talented players and athletic players, us included.”

“What can separate is how we play together our chemistry and how we treat each other in the lockerroom, on and off the court. I think that is something we started to build last year and it’s a big reason for our success and I think that if we can continue to do that this year and develop that bond it will be another separator for us to put ourselves at the top of the table.”

The question is though, if Maccabi doesn’t reach its goals will the season be considered a failure? Lorenzo Brown explained his thoughts on the matter, “I wouldn’t say that it would be a failure if we don’t get to the Final Four but we all have goals as individuals and as a team. I wouldn’t consider it a failure if we take care of business the right way and stuck together.”

Wade Baldwin – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman


Wade Baldwin also reflected on the question of failure, but as any true athlete, the guard wants to go as far as the club can in all competitions, “Like every season and like every team you want to win a title and cup and the Euroleague because if you don’t try to compete for that you shouldn’t go onto the court. We want to be in the top 8 and if we do that it gives us a chance to get a championship. The Israeli Cup and league are also important and those are our goals as well.”

While Baldwin mentioned that the team needs to get into the Top 8 in order to have a chance to get to the Final Four, that isn’t going to be the case this coming season as there will be a bit of a new twist with a Play In Tournament for teams that finish between 6th and 10th place. That means only the Top 6 are guaranteed of advancing to the quarterfinals and the next four teams will vie for the remaining two places.

Jake Cohen feels that in order to reach the promised land regardless of the new system Maccabi will need to keep to the same methodology throughout the season.

“In regards to the Play In I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it but I don’t think it changes a whole lot about our approach. Each game in the Euroleague is so important we’ve seen that last year from round 1 to round 34 it was dynamic and moving it was a lot of fun and exciting even for us to follow, so I think that will continue to be the case. It will be interesting to see how the Play In works this season.”

Shimon Mizrachi – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman


One person who definitely wants to see Maccabi succeed and still holds some animosity towards the way the Monaco quarterfinal series went down last year, especially concerning the officiating of game two is no doubt the chairman, Shimon Mizrachi who had the last word.

“We were very close and what stopped us from going to the Final Four was the second game of the Monaco series which there were issues with the referees. It was very disappointing but we were very proud as well because we beat the top four teams including Monaco in Monaco and at home. I hope that this season will be as successful as last.”

Sign up for our newsletter

0 Comments

You may also like…

Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates. 

You have Successfully Subscribed!