Maccabi Tel Aviv readies for a pair of Euroleague clashes this week at their home away from home in Belgrade as they will welcome in upstart Paris on Tuesday (21:05) and Barcelona on Thursday. The yellow-and-blue will look to build on their win last week at ALBA Berlin and bump up their 4-8 record to stay in contention for one of the Play In places that could lead to playoff berth at the end of the regular season.

However, with a 9-3 record, Paris has been the toast of the Euroleague, stunning almost everyone as the debutant has been anything but despite having a rookie head coach in Tiago Splitter on the sidelines to a roster of players that have not been the top of the top of the continental competition. But no matter, Splitter has been able to take his motley crew to places that he perhaps could have only dreamed of with one player who is the truly the little engine that could in one TJ Shorts.

Shorts, as his name would describe is, yes quite short coming in at just 5”9 or 175cm.

But while he may be short in size, he is tall in ability and talent averaging 18.1 points and 7.8 assists making him a legitimate Euroleague star and one who is just in his first season in the competition.

However, Shorts is no stranger to European basketball and has been a winner helping lead Bonn to the Basketball Champions League title over Hapoel Jerusalem back in 2023 which was followed up by a EuroCup championship in 2024 both under Finnish head coach Tuomas Iisalo. One player who is familiar with the UC Davis product is Levi Randolph who faced Shorts with Jerusalem in the 2023 championship game.

“It’s another big game for us,” the Maccabi small forward began. “Tthey are a really good team. I played with a lot of their players in the past, in the BCL as well. It’s a big thing for them, they did a great job and have been able to further their careers so that’s big time. We’ve been watching film on them and they look very similar the way they play. A lot of confidence up tempo with TJ shorts running the show. They have a lot of great pieces around him so a lot of similarities to the team I played on a few years ago, so I’m looking forward to getting on the court and playing against them.”

Yellow-and-blue captain John Dibartolomeo also knows that Shorts will be the critical piece to stop or at least slow down should Maccabi want to win the game, “He’s the main focus for them and he’s what makes them go. He’s playing really well and he plays with a lot of confidence. He’s done a lot of damage this year and it’s impressive what he’s done in his first year in Euroleague. The responsibility doesn’t fall on just the guards, it falls on the entire team and coaches all together to try and slow him down.”

Oded Katash will no doubt have a game plan in place and hinted that in fact getting into Shorts head will not just be on the likes of Dibartolomeo, but everyone.

“TJ Shorts makes a lot of decisions and plays his own unique style,” the bench boss said. “We’ll have to show him a few different things on defense and not just one way of defending him. He’s cunning and knows how to find his way against all types of guards. Jaylen Hoard will probably have work to do in this regard, but it’s him and players around him who play with a lot of confidence and also shoot well. When you come to play against a distinct style that’s based on running, you have to know what things you will live with and deal with going through some poor minutes to eventually slow them down.”

If Maccabi has designs on winning the game, they will need to shut Shorts down or at least limit the damage that he can inflict, but one thing is for sure, it’s going to take a team effort to get the job done.

Shorts has been able to take the team on his back and help them open up the season in fine fashion, as Paris can cause all kinds of issues despite just being in their first campaign, because it’s not just Shorts but the entire system of play that the club has implemented.

“Obviously a big challenge for us as they’re on a great run and are in 1st place in the Euroleague,” the captain commented. “We need to be prepared as they play at a faster pace I think than anybody else ad that will be one of the keys for us this game which is slowing them down. They have a lot of talent and they’re going to make some tough shots. We need to stay with them all game and have a chance at the end.”

Katash also chimed in on what makes Paris a unique team, perhaps even a unicorn in Euroleague play but one that is also very familiar to the Israeli, “We have checked them out and saw them play. They play good basketball, different, very refreshing to watch and even inspiring to a certain extent. They may be doing what they did in the past, but more extreme.

“It’s nice to see that there is a distinct style and a team that the coach instills a certain character in but it’s also challenging to play against them because they play with a completely different and very special style. It’s quite similar to the times we had, you can feel that they really enjoy playing with one another and believe in the process. This is a team with continuity and it’s nice to see that this can work at the highest levels.”

Maccabi did beat ALBA Berlin last week in dominant fashion, but again that was one of the worst teams in the Euroleague and they know they can’t fool anyone that this was one of those spectacular wins. However, Katash’s squad had to take care of business which they did and despite having lost 8 games, many of them have been very close. Of course on the flipside, two of the team’s wins were thanks to Saben Lee who is no longer with the club and could have also resulted in losses.

But as Randolph explained, there is a process and the players have bought into that fact that with more and more games they will continue to improve and get to where they need to be in order to make some noise.

“If you look at the games that we lost, a lot of games were really close and they came down to the end,” Randolph said. “We’ve had a lot of moving pieces so stability is good. Hopefully in the future going forward we can continue to build, get better every day and with more practice and more games we’ll become a better team. Coach tells us everyday to trust the process and things will get better and we’ll gel and bond as a team.”

“I think we have some good momentum right now,” Dibartolomeo added. “Winning helps everything and it helps you on the court and it helps you off the court. We have to keep it going and we have a huge week ahead of us and it starts with Paris on Tuesday.”

Maccabi will have their full squad available for the first time this season as everyone from Tamir Blatt to Rokas Jokubaitis and Jasiel Rivero will be available to play and they will be doing it in what looks to be a brand new gorgeous, clean white uniform. But uniform aside, it will be how the players perform on the court that can help the now white-and-blue to move their record to 5-8 and close in to 10th place and a spot in the Play In.

“I’m glad the injured players are back and we can play with a full squad. On the other hand, there’s a game every other day and there aren’t too many practices. We’ll have to build the chemistry while we are on the move. We managed to hold half a practice and that’s never enough. We need this entire squad for the near future.”

However, Dibartolomeo knows that Paris will be a very serious threat and one that the club can’t be surprised from, “They’re coming into their first year in the Euroleague trying to prove themselves and all those things together can make them very dangerous. I think at this point of the season nobody will underestimate them.”