Israel State Cup Week has arrived as Maccabi Tel Aviv will tip-off against Hapoel Jerusalem on Sunday night (20:45) while Bnei Herzliya will play Hapoel HaEmek on Monday (19:00) with both semifinal games taking place at Yad Eliayhu in Tel Aviv as well as Thursday’s final.

Ahead of the first semifinal clash to determine one of the two finalists, the two head coaches and captains of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem took part in a pregame press conference at Hadar Yosef.

Yellow-and-blue Head Coach Oded Katash shared, “We’re generally feeling good. Cup week in recent years always comes in different situations. We’re not in the optimal situation injury-wise and we’re still waiting for answers about Iffe Lundberg’s status. We just finished an intense overtime game and need to recover. We’re facing an excellent team and will focus on what we have. We need to bring the right energy, stay focused, make a collective effort. It’s another double week, this time for a title and it’ll be interesting.”

The Maccabi Tel Aviv coach spoke about the opponent’s guards, “Jerusalem is a good team at a EuroLeague level. We’re not expecting an easier game than yesterday and that’s how we’ll approach it. They have three very dominant guards, and beyond that, the way they play, Jerusalem is in good form, just like we are. We’ve seen their recent games. We’ll make a team effort with a clear game plan, and sometimes you need a Plan B or even C, because you can’t let them feel comfortable. We’ll bring extra energy and hope we recover enough to come prepared and aggressive.”

The bench boss also commented on the matchup and the aspect at playing in their home arena, “Our job as coaches is to play with the cards we have, each with his own advantages. Every game is different and requires in-game adjustments. It’s true that the bigger lineup helped, but that doesn’t guarantee it’ll work next game. In that game Jerusalem switched to four guards and a zone defense, which sparked a run for them. I’m not sure we’ll see that again. We’ll have to see the lineups, how the game develops and react accordingly.”

“I don’t think there’s a favorite here. I would have preferred a bit more rest and fewer injuries, but mainly we need to recover mentally, bring energy, focus on what we have, and build our game plan from there.”

Hapoel Jerusalem bench boss Yonatan Alon said, “The preparations are normal. For every game we prepare to give everything. I think the Maccabi we’ll face is not the same Maccabi from the Winner Cup or preseason. Everyone improves and takes shape. We’ll face this current version of Maccabi and try to do a better job than the last time we played them.”

“Our style of play is pretty clear. We don’t focus on our opponents in that sense. If we express our strengths, we’ll win and we’re good at that. Teams can make it hard on us with size, but that’s something we deal with. In those aspects, size matters more in terms of switching and rebounding, and being able to succeed even when the other team uses it.”

The reds head coach also spoke about the various injuries and whether last year’s final is on their minds, “Nimrod Levi is injured. Mobley had an almost full practice, and it’s hard to know if he’ll be fit. As for last year, we’ve played so many games since that cup final including the playoffs, the start of this season, the middle of this season, so our heads aren’t there. At least mine isn’t.”

Yellow & Blue captain John DiBartolomeo looked ahead to the Cup, “Jerusalem is a very talented team. Harper is one of the best players in Europe. But it’s not just him they have other guards and good players as well. It’ll take a team effort to stop this team. We’re expecting a battle, with aggression. A title is on the line, and we’re excited for this matchup. Playing in the semifinals is big for the club. Maccabi has big goals and the cup is one of them. A game against Hapoel Jerusalem is always a big game. We want to win the cup.”

Dibartolomeo also discussed his former teammate and Hapoel Captain Yovel Zoosman, “I played with him, so I’m not objective. He’s a key player. I watch a lot of Jerusalem games and you can see the energy he brings. He’s aggressive, sometimes it shows on defense, sometimes on offense but you always feel his presence. That’s why he plays so many minutes, especially in clutch moments.”

Yovel Zoosman also discussed the upcoming game, “I think we need to focus on ourselves as always. Maccabi is a talented and good team that’s in a very positive zone, and lately they’ve been scoring 100 points every game. We mainly need to focus on ourselves. We know our strengths. Like John said, it’s a game for a title whoever comes more determined, in my opinion, will win this matchup.”

“Every game against Maccabi is a big game, especially when there’s a cup at stake. We understand the importance of the moment. We built this team to compete for titles and want to compete in the best way we can. What happened earlier this year doesn’t mean anything about what will happen now, for better or worse. We need to come fully prepared, because it’s one game and anything can happen in one game. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Just as Dibartolomeo spoke about Zoosman, Zoos did the same about John D, “He knows the game, all the clichés, where to be, when to crash the offensive boards, when to get a steal. Every basket he scores has more impact than another player’s basket in terms of the crowd. You feel everything he does because he’s the captain and strongly identified with the club. He has a lot of experience from his career and his years at Maccabi Tel Aviv. He knows how to play the game and make the right moves. He has no ego, leaves his heart on the court. I like to play that way too, so it suits us both. Often in our style statistics can be misleading and that doesn’t interest me much probably not John D either. Hopefully in the next game I’ll do it a little better than him.”