Maccabi Tel Aviv welcomes Baskonia in Euroleague Gameday 20 on Thursday at Yad Eliyahu (21:05). The Yellow & Blue are reeling after a devastating 89-87 overtime loss to Olympiacos and will look to get back onto the winning track against Dusko Ivanovic’s squad.

“We lost one battle but the war is alive. We have one more important game and we have to be ready to fight for this game,” stated Maccabi coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos at his pregame press conference. Yes, the battle was lost and it was only one, however, Maccabi has lost 11 out of 19 battles this season and with another few losses, the war will be over for a postseason spot.

Hopes are high coming into the 2020/21 season after such a strong 19/20 campaign despite a number of challenges that faced the team heading into September’s training camp. So many old faces were back, Scottie, Wilbekin, Tyler Dorsey, Othello Hunter, Elijah Bryant and Angelo Caloiaro. New faces in Ante Zizic, Dragan Bender, Oz Blayzer and Chris Jones and three players who would soon be back after rehab from various injuries in Omri Casspi, Yovel Zoosman and captain John Dibartolomeo.

It looked as if Maccabi was just going to pick up where they left off last season. Except that’s not how it went.

Instead it was close defeat, falling in money time due to the “small details” over and over and over again. With an 8-11 record, the sand in the hourglass is running out and running out quickly.

As every game went by there was one explanation after the next. We began training camp late. Our previous season ended late. This year is totally different because of corona. We are missing players due to injuries. The players that just came back from injury need time. One thing after the next. Every single one of them legitimate, but at the end of the day, Maccabi had a prime chance to head into next week’s game against Real with a .500 record at 10-10. But that is now just a dream after losing to Olympiacos.

John Dibartolomeo, was the first of the injured players to return to Euroleague action when he checked in on November 26th against Milano and in 11:36 minutes he drilled home 2 of 3 from downtown for 8 points in his season debut. However, over the past two games, coach Sfairopoulos has given John D just a grand total of 3:26, with only 10 seconds of that time coming in a cameo this week against Olympiacos.

“The players that were injured are still not in their best shape and it was my decision not to play John last night,” explained Sfairopoulos.

The other two players who came back in December Casspi and Zoosman have played a 53 minutes combined and have produced a paltry 3 points in total. Casspi, Zoosman and Dibartolomeo all play different positions and role for Maccabi but the time difference in 425 minutes of play is stark.

On the season itself, Dibartolomeo has played a total of 53:18 and scored 24 points going 5/11 from beyond the arc, Zoosman checks in with 79:19 and 11 points while Casspi has played 72:13 and out in 15 points thus far.

There are certainly intangibles that each player brings to the table, whether it’s passing the ball, steals, rebounds, defense and overall court presence, but it seems as if Sfairopoulos has wiped out Dibartolomeo from the rotation.

That of course in the coach’s prerogative, but when a team doesn’t have its captain on the floor it’s as if the ship has lost course and lost its way at sea.

Sfairopoulos doesn’t have to worry about effort, fight and aggressiveness that DiBartolomeo will bring to the table, that is all well documented. He doesn’t have to be concerned that John D won’t be there for the team when they need him most. Dibartolomeo will always be there for the team.

The season is hanging in the balance, it’s now or never for Maccabi with a record of 8-11. They need their captain and they need their captain now before it’s too late.