Maccabi Tel Aviv will get back to Euroleague action on Friday night (21:30) when they visit Milano in Italy with the hope of reaching the .500 mark as they enter the game with a 14-15 record. This will be the yellow-and-blue’s first game in a couple of weeks since the outbreak of the war with Iran that sent the Israeli basketball scene into a bit chaos as Oded Katash’s squad moved their operations back to Belgrade in order to finish off the continental competition.

Serbia has been a familiar location for Maccabi as they have played their home games in Belgrade when the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 broke out, but had moved back to the friendly confines of Yad Eliyahu in December after the war came to an end. However, now with the latest conflict, the yellow-and-blue returned to the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall to ready for target final stretch run as they try and get into the Play In and punch their ticket to the post season.

Just ahead of Maccabi’s first game back since the latest war, General Manager Claudio Coldebella spoke with Giuseppe Nigro of La Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy as he shared some of the successes that he has experienced this season. Coldebella spoke about having to deal with another conflict that will be a challenge for the club to overcome, working for a legendary club like Maccabi Tel Aviv but first and foremost the Italian discussed winning the Israel State Cup just last month.

“Winning the cup was spectacular and with this one I’ve now won in four countries, every country where I’ve worked: in Italy as a player, in Greece with PAOK and in Russia in the VTB League with UNICS Kazan. But capturing the cup also reminded me of something Messina said about his experience at Real Madrid that when you win there it’s more a relief than anything else. That was a bit my feeling too; before me they had already won 46 cups. After the victory the president was already thinking about the league title. It’s a place with an incredible winning DNA.”

Being a part of Maccabi is different Coldebella explained as it’s a team that represents an entire nation, “Wherever I go I immerse myself in the club’s history, but Maccabi is something different. It has always been the team of the people, the national team of a people and it has represented them by winning a lot. It’s one of the three or four most historic clubs in European basketball. It’s a beautiful experience both in life and in sport, in a club with very high standards and a very demanding fan base that is always used to winning.”

In the past there was only Maccabi but now the reality is that domestic competition has never been stronger, “The two Hapoel teams, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, have different styles but both operate on a big scale. Maccabi wasn’t used to having two competitors at home. We decided to focus on local players, an idea I’ve always believed in. When I arrived in the locker room as a player, I found Roberto Brunamonti there; having players who guide you is a real value. This is an Israeli club and we have an Israeli core, from Tamir Blatt and Roman Sorkin to the head coach. In the EuroLeague we are the fifth team out of twenty in terms of usage of local players.”

With many new players coming on board, the results weren’t the best as the season began, however, over the past few months things have turned around as Maccabi finds itself very close to reaching the .500 mark as well as slipping into the postseason.

“We got off to a slow start,” Coldebella admitted. “But thinking you can do well when playing on neutral courts is unrealistic, also because the more you travel the less you train. Since returning home in December we’ve won 26 of 31 games. In the EuroLeague we’re 10 out of 15, and in the domestic league we haven’t lost since November 17 away against Hapoel Tel Aviv. The fact that this club represents its people changes everything; it creates incredible energy. More than other teams, we need that.”

Coldebella knew full well that Maccabi and Israel are one and the same and that the two are inseparable, “For 3,000 years world politics has been decided here and I won’t get into discussions that big. I’m a Tel Aviv resident, a Tel Avivian. It’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world, a mix between Miami and Brooklyn, the climate, the people, the social life. We’re in love with the place; it’s been a wonderful life experience. Everyone asks what it’s like here and our daily life has been one of safety and calm. Of course, the club has an extremely high level of security attention, but neither I nor my family have ever felt in danger, even when traveling. Since the summer we may have heard one siren. Right now there are many alerts, but we left just hours before the situation worsened. Since Friday February 27th we have all moved to Belgrade.”

The general manager explained how the set-up in Belgrade works for the players and staff as they try to keep spoon sort of normalcy, “Everyone can choose whether to live in a hotel or an apartment. We’re trying to recreate our daily routine and our families are with us. We’re fortunate that right now there is a very strong connection between Belgrade and Maccabi. We found extremely hospitable people, perhaps because they also experienced war. There is great respect. But I hope we can return to Israel as soon as possible, also because there is a league season to resume where we were first in the standings and above all it would signal a return to normal life, first and foremost for the citizens.”

As a player, Coldebella was a pioneer in playing abroad, when almost nobody did it, going to Greece to play for AEK and PAOK. Once again by working outside of his native Italy, he is doing the same as a basketball executive.

“I struggle to call basketball a job; I’ve always considered it a passion. I grew up watching these teams as a kid. It’s a personal source of pride to think about where I started and that I’ve become the general manager of Maccabi. The journey continues, these are work and life experiences that are priceless.

The two most important teams of Coldebella’s playing career were Virtus Bologna and Olimpia Milano who now opponents in the continental play, “The EuroLeague shows no mercy. The 38 games this year are a record and it’s very difficult to sustain, it’s a very demanding format. Many playoff-level teams will be left out. I see that Olimpia and Virtus both have a clear identity and come from a difficult domestic league that has improved a lot in level this year. I still think both have a chance to reach the playoffs.”

As for the Play In, Coldebella saw that the chances had been very good for Maccabi when they are playing at hime to find a way into the playoffs, but now playing in Belgrade makes things all that more challenging, “The numbers say that the Maccabi that plays at home is a playoff team, so I would have said Maccabi. But our value has to be recalibrated because we’re playing on neutral courts. We’ll already have an answer in Milan. Dubai was also a team doing very well before the latest developments. Monaco has just changed their coach. All these things in some way help the Italian teams. We’ll see.”

As for the future, Coldebella could possibly see himself returning to Italy, but that right now he is part of Maccabi and that is where all of his focus is, “I still have a long contract with Maccabi. My goal is to manage to win the EuroLeague here. As a player I came very close, I played in a final so I’d like to achieve it as a GM. It would be nice in Italy too. The basketball world is changing there as well, with the possibility of NBA Europe. I’m curious to see how basketball will find its positioning. It would be great for everyone if the right balance between all the different entities could finally be found.”