Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya will battle it out for the Israel State Cup on Thursday (21:00) at Yad Eliyahu. The yellow-and-blue will look to repeat and win their first cup at home since the 2015/16 season while the blues will try to capture the trophy for the second time in five years after winning it back in 2022.

Head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Oded Katash, addressed the upcoming opponent, “We’re coming as a team, we lose and win as a team. I’m happy for specific players who get wins. We’re very excited to reach this stage. We’re coming off a challenging semifinal and an equally tough quarterfinal. It’s a great privilege to be here and we have nothing to lose in tomorrow’s game. Bnei Herzliya are a very talented team with an impressive winning streak and in good form. It’s going to be a big game.”

On Chinanu Onuaku and trying to close him down, “It’s true that he’s a very dominant player. Some of the things he does come from his size and we recently dealt with players like that in Europe. Red Star and Partizan have players like that. Sometimes we handled it well, sometimes less so. They have bigger lineups and we’ll need to prepare for all of that. It’s easy to mention five or six other players who can cause damage. We’ll have to work hard.”

About Jimmy Clark, “Jimmy brings us magic both on and off the court. A lot of talent, a player who’s great to be around, wants to learn and improve. It’s fun to be around him and we’re happy he’s with us. I think he’s made tremendous progress and still has a lot of room to grow.”

On being the favorites, “If you look at the big picture, considering the situation both teams are in, we don’t really see it that way. Whoever wants to think that is fine. But with the injuries we’ve had recently, we’re not in an optimal situation. On the other hand, we see what Herzliya have been doing lately and it’s very impressive. So we’re not coming into this game feeling like favorites, first and foremost, we can be proud. We have nothing to lose, and that’s how we need to approach it.”

John DiBartolomeo, captain of Maccabi Tel Aviv, said, “I believe our experience plays an important role in games like this. It’s a cup game and anything can happen. Herzliya are a good and dangerous team. They have many players who can take over a game. We need to stay focused for 40 minutes.”

On the matchup, “Past games are in the past. We’ve been unlucky in this arena. Like Oded said, reaching the final is a great achievement. We’ve put ourselves in a position to win it.”
Playing against Max Heidegger. “He’s an amazing player. Offensively, he’s one of the best in the league. I’m happy to see him playing and enjoying basketball. Obviously for us, he’s very dangerous. He’s definitely one of the key players for tomorrow’s game.”

Head coach of Bnei Herzliya, Yehua Orland, shared his thoughts, “There are special preparations as it’s a cup final. Maccabi Tel Aviv are also playing in their home arena, they feel comfortable with the rims and we’ll need to address that too. As for belief, it’s not relevant. I believe I can win, but it doesn’t matter what I think or what we believe. We need to do our job as well as we possibly can.”

On the strategy compared to their semifinal against Hapoel HaEmek, “I don’t think you can compare the games. The roster is different, the style of play is completely different. HaEmek play one way; Maccabi play a completely different way. From the start, we’ll need to bring the aggressiveness that was less effective in the first quarter against HaEmek. We’ll need to stay focused, and if the game plan doesn’t work, we’ll have to adjust. Against HaEmek, it took me 35 minutes to change our approach and system, and when we did, it worked. Oded mentioned that we can play very big lineups, but every game is different, a semifinal is not a final. We know we have to do it.”

About the expectations from his team, “God forbid anyone comes thinking the word ‘impossible’ applies in a cup final. That alone means it’s not impossible. As for my experience, I don’t believe in it that much. You can see this year in the EuroLeague that experienced coaches didn’t succeed and some were even fired. I don’t attach much importance to that. We need to come and do our job in the best possible way. That’s what we’re focused on, that’s where we’re investing all our efforts.”

Shalev Lugashi, captain of Bnei Herzliya, added, “Maccabi Tel Aviv are a very good team. Clearly we’re coming in as underdogs. We need to express ourselves the way we have in recent games. We don’t give up until the very last second. The coaches prepare us in the best possible way. I hope we come tomorrow and do it as a team.”

About Onuaku’s impact on the squad, “He pushes us all season. He’s the most dominant player on the team, no question about it. I’ll touch briefly on the cup: from the start of the year, he’s been emphasizing how important it is to him personally. We’ve gotten used to being on the same page as him. When we started preparing for the quarterfinal and semifinal, he took on more responsibility, didn’t let outside noise enter the locker room and before and during the games he took responsibility for himself, encouraged us, and put everything else aside. He came much more prepared than for any other game and for the final he’s preparing us and pushing us as best as he can. As a team, we all want to do it like we did four years ago.”

On believing it’s possible after beating Maccabi in high school, “That’s a game I’ll never forget. Like I said then, the cup has its own rules. Anyone who gives up even a minute before the end, there’s no place for that. Everything can turn around in an instant. It’s a very emotional occasion for me and for the team. I’ve often shown that I rise to the occasion in big moments, and I hope I can show that again. We have many different personalities on the team, and as captain I have the responsibility to connect everyone so each person finds their place, socially and professionally.”