The minute Iffe Lundberg signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv it seemed that the luck of the yellow-and-blue had changed for the better. The guard had been basically shut out of the Partizan Belgrade squad and was looking for a new home which at that point led Maccabi Tel Aviv down the yellow brick road so to speak and snagged the Danish floor general.

Since Lundberg signed with Maccabi, the club has gone 5-3 after having started the season 2-7, but in fact games that the 31-year old played in, Oded Katash’s team is 4-1. However, if we throw out the first game Lundberg played in where he was only on the floor for under 8 minutes and didn’t score, Maccabi is a perfect 4-0 and looking extremely good heading into the final two games of the opening round of action.

Currently sitting at 7-10 with games coming up at Partizan Belgrade on Friday (19:00) and next week in Munich against Bayern, Maccabi has the incredible chance to launch themselves straight back into the playoff race and head into the second round at 9-10. Of course, the yellow-and-blue don’t want to look too far ahead of themselves and rightfully so, but the fact is that they have begun the ever so steady climb up the standings.

But they are excited that there is a chance to really make a huge difference and continue their fine play explained TJ Leaf, “It definitely feels good. We got a little streak going now, so especially on a double week like that, getting both is really big for us. We feel really good about it, but both games coming up are tough, but winning them both is definitely possible. It’s something that we’re wanting to do and we keep playing the way we’re playing. I don’t see why not.”

Lonnie Walker agreed with the naturalized Israeli forward, “Man, it feels good to get some wins and funnel in some wins. I think we’re just getting started. We’re starting to get our niche and figure out what we’re capable of doing. We got a great new player in Iffe who is playing terrific and being one of the leaders of the team. So, we’re continuously elevating, but, you know, we can’t get too high nor too low.”

Will Rayman was thrilled with where he sees Maccabi heading and the chance to end the round at 9-10, “It feels great, it’s four wins in a row, a huge double week against two teams competing for the play-in right now. Every win is huge, especially this week. It feels great. I feel like we’re playing our best basketball right now. We definitely have to focus on rebounding more. Both of those teams, Partizan and Bayern have some pretty big guys. But I mean, why not?”

It should be noted that Maccabi is going to be on a four game road stretch right now with contests slated for Barcelona and Real Madrid in early January following Partizan and Bayern, so as good as it may look right now, well it’s not going to be an easy road for sure and Katash has to be aware of the challenges that all four of these opponents will pose.

But getting back to the task at hand and one game at a time, Maccabi have totally taken a massive u-turn with Lundberg on the floor as the guard brings a sense of security, intelligence and all-around high level basketball IQ to the table which is something his teammates have seen first hand and can feel that there is something positive that is now permeating throughout the club.

Lundberg played with CSKA Moscow and Bologna along with Partizan in the Euroleague with a handful of games sprinkled in with the Phoenix Suns in the NBA. Prior to that, Lundberg also played in Spain, Poland and his home country of Denmark.

“He’s awesome,” Rayman exclaimed. “He’s super, super poised. He brings experience and that’s what we needed. He’s just a great locker room guy, you know. He’s just a great guy to have around. He knows what he’s good at, he’s strong and he can guard one through five on the switches. He’s a great all-around player.”

Roman Sorkin also chimed in about Lundberg’s arrival, “Wow, wow, I think he fits us like a glove. He’s brought a lot of leadership, calmness and composure. We’re happy he’s here with us and hopefully he’ll just keep it up.”

“He’s just a veteran guy who understands the game of basketball,” Leaf added. “He understands the flow, when to attack, when not to, so it’s been huge for us. He’s been such a difference maker.“

Walker gave his 2-cents on Lundberg’s grand arrival, “Iffe is another OG who’s like a vet to us, you know, always talking, always teaching us.” While Jimmy Clark gave his thoughts on the veteran guard’s addition, “He adds a lot, a lot of experience, he’s a veteran guard that’s played in this league for many years, so just having that experience and his vocal leadership has been helping us a lot along the way.”

Finally, the bench boss himself Oded Katash, who has given the keys to the car to Lundberg as the game heads Taurus it’s end, using his presence on the floor to find a way to close out last week’s victory over Valencia, spoke about his new recruit.

“Iffe gives us a lot of calm, control, experience and beyond the professional side, real leadership. That helps us a lot and against Valencia it was very meaningful. We tried to slow the game down; it wasn’t simple. We had to make a lot of substitutions and go with bigger lineups. Beyond that, even when they went on runs, he made his voice heard and calmed us down, which is very important for us.”

The bottom line is, it’s quite impressive how just one player can change up a team for the good, especially one who has so many qualities, positive attributes that can potentially turn around a season. While Maccabi has four tough road games on the horizon, Lundberg can help, but really, Maccabi also needs a bit more to compete for one of the top places in the Euroleague.

It’s true that the standings are tight and the yellow-and-blue are now in 14th place, just two wins out of a Play-In spot and three from 6th place, there are also 8 teams in front of them, some of which will win and some who will lose. However, there are also so many games left in the season, a whopping 21 of them which will obviously play in Maccabi’s favor as long as they keep pushing and playing competitive basketball, then they are still in the game so to speak.

The addition of Lundberg has obviously been the lighting rod for the club and with one or two more additions (center Zach Hankins who had joined is out for a few weeks and should be a fine help when he returns), there’s no reason to believe that Maccabi can’t shoot for the stars.