Maccabi Tel Aviv had a win against Panathinaikos and a loss against Anadolu Efes in its final European warmup games prior to the 2024-25 season in the 6th annual “Pavlos Giannakopoulos” tournament, held in memory of the late legendary president of Panathinaikos, over the weekend. The tournament, in which Partizan Belgrade also participated, was especially unique this year as it was held outdoors in the historic Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.

Prior to the tournament, a press conference was held at which coaches and players from both teams spoke.

“Thank you for having us here again,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said at the press conference. “This tournament has become a tradition for Maccabi Tel Aviv. It’s really important for the club – the tournament, the connection with Panathinaikos – and it’s an honor to be here. I want to wish all the success and good luck for players and coaches here, stay healthy and lots of success for the upcoming season. We’re waiting for a really challenging season for us.”

“I want to thank everyone for inviting us,” Maccabi captain John DiBartolomeo said. “It’s an honor for us to take part in this tournament. It’s become a staple of Maccabi’s preseason. We’ve been here quite a few times and it’s always an amazing atmosphere, a high level tournament. We’re looking forward to it and looking forward to the new season. Best of luck to all the teams and a successful and healthy year.”

On Friday, Maccabi defeated Panathinaikos 81-73 – backing up the 88-85 win over the reigning EuroLeague champions earlier in the week – in what was a close game, but a game in which the Yellow & Blue was able to separate themselves from the hosts down the stretch. Roman Sorkin (11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist and 1 block), Jordan Loyd (9 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals and 1 assist), Levi Randolph (9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 assist) and Jaylen Hoard (8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 assists and 1 block) led the scoring for Maccabi, with an additional four players scoring 7 points (Omer Mayer, Rokas Jokubaitis, Wenyen Gabriel and Tamir Blatt). Panathinaikos’s leading scorers were Kendrick Nunn (13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists), Cedi Osman (13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists) and Konstantinos Mitglou (12 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist).

While always nice to get a win, the result was soured by injuries to Gabriel (knee) and Blatt (ankle), who both left the court during the game and did not return. The extend of the injuries are unclear, but neither of them played in the loss to Panathinaikos.

“I think we need to stay humble and hungry,” veteran Jake Cohen (2 rebounds and 2 assists in a little over 10 minutes) said after the win. “It’s still really early for both teams, we’re learning our way, we’ve got some stuff to correct. Overall, there’s a lot of positive to be taken from it too. I think that our energy and our body language is great. Our guys are playing really hard, they’re playing for each other. These are great foundations for us moving forward.”

The performance on Saturday was less inspiring, with Maccabi going down to Anadolu Efes 66-89 after the Turkish team led by only one point at halftime. Maccabi’s scoring was again led by Hoard (14 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist), Loyd (11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist) and Randolph (11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block), while former Maccabi player Elijah Bryant (16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 3 assists), Dan Oturu (14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists) and Ercan Osmani (14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist) led the way for Anadolu Efes.

To add insult to injury, Jokubaitis left the court in the final minutes with an ankle injury, with the club announcing that he will be checked upon return to Israel.

“It was very special, a great event,” Katash summed up the tournament on Saturday night. “The conditions were a little difficult specifically for basketball, but I think that everyone who took part felt that it was special and impressive. We didn’t play well, but it’s difficult to judge this game with the exceptional challenges. While not decisive, we missed two players from yesterday’s game [Gabriel and Blatt]. We didn’t play well, but there isn’t too much to take from this game.

“From yesterday’s game [against Panathinaikos] we can take more things, still to feel some situations and composition on the court, there’s lots of work to do,” Katash continued. “We started training very late, there are more things to incorporate. We’re still in the process of learning basic things. There are some things we’re doing better but there’s still lots of work to do.”

Maccabi is scheduled to land late Saturday night / early Sunday morning in Tel Aviv, with the next game a matchup against Kiryat Ata in the quarterfinal of the Israeli preseason Winner Cup tournament on Tuesday night (20:50 IDT / 13:50 EDT).