Step One: Maccabi Tel Aviv holds its first training session ahead of the upcoming season

Aug 29, 2024 | Holyland Hoops

Maccabi Tel Aviv held its first official training session ahead of the 2024-25 season at HaShalom Sports Center in Midtown Tel Aviv on Thursday.

After the excitement of the team’s new foreign players and veteran naturalized Israelis arriving to the delight of fans at Ben Gurion airport earlier this week, both staff and players were happy for the whole team to be able to practice together for the first time.

Photo credit: Maccabi Tel Aviv


“First, like every season, it’s very exciting,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said. “New players, new excitement. I even managed to miss the familiar faces, something I didn’t imagine would happen at the end of last season, but I missed everyone.”

“Obviously, it’s always very exciting starting a new season,” Maccabi captain John DiBartolomeo said. “A lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement. It was great to meet all the new guys. They had a lot of energy and everyone is getting along well and practice was good – we had a lot of energy and a lot of good vibes.”

DiBartolomeo, who is going into his 8th season as captain, leads the returning players which includes fellow veteran Jake Cohen, Roman Sorkin, Rafi Menco, Tamir Blatt and Cuban fan-favorite Jasiel Rivero.

Photo credit: Maccabi Tel Aviv


Joining the team for the 2024-25 are Rokas Jokubaitis, Jordan Loyd, Daryl Macon Jr, Levi Randolph, Jaylen Hoard, Wenyen Gabriel and Will Rayman, who returns to Israel for his maiden season in yellow & blue after spending a season on loan with French club Saint-Quentin.

“Every year you’re going to get a bit of change over,” DiBartolomeo said of the combination of the remaining players from last season’s Israeli League Championship team and the new signings. “I will say everyone came in with a really good attitude – willing to work hard and willing to learn. Obviously, this is only day one and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

The team has a little over a week to get to know each other before their pre-season games begin, beginning with a exhibition game against Olympiacos next Friday in Piraeus, followed by the “Neofytos Chandriotis” tournament in Nicosia from September 14-16 with EuroLeague Champions Panathinaikos and Yam Madar’s Bayern Munich. After that, yet another preseason game against Panathinaikos is slated for September 20 while the yellow-and-blue’s international exhibitions will be rounded out with a game against Anadolu Efes in the 6th annual Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament in Athens.

Photo credit: Maccabi Tel Aviv


“It’s very exciting with a sense of urgency – we’re almost the last in Europe to start training, we have no time and we need to catch up,” Katash said of the need for the team to come together quickly ahead of the season. “It’s very challenging and there’s a lot of work. The most important thing for me in the first training sessions is a good attitude, that players will enjoy themselves, really that they will enjoy working hard and being together – and I felt that in the first training session.”

Maccabi’s EuroLeague season begins on Thursday October 3 with a home game in against ASVEL Villeurbanne to be held in Belgrade, Serbia due to the current security situation in Israel, while the Israeli Winner League season begins with a road game against Hapoel Haifa the following week.

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