This is it! Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Hapoel Jerusalem! Yellow & Blue vs the Reds!

Does it get any better than this!

Thursday night at 9pm, the two squads will tipoff for Israel State Cup glory as each team will try and bring home the coveted trophy for their respective fan base.

Will it be Hapoel Jerusalem in a 3-Peat? Will Maccabi be able to halt their two game losing streak in the final to their capital city foe?

Will Levi Randolph who moved from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv in the offseason be able to hoist his third Cup in a row or will Khadeen Carrington, Or Cornelius and Noam Dovrat have that honor on the other side of the court?

We will find out all of those answers at around 11pm when the final buzzer will sound after what for certain will be an all-out battle royale at the Jerusalem Arena.

Now that the rosters have been announced for the big game and we know that no changes have been made to which imports will be registered on either side, let’s take a look at some of the storylines that both teams will be facing in the cup final.

Levi Randolph looking to win his 3rd Cup in a row

The former Jerusalem captain lifted the trophy last season while wearing Red and captured it back in 2023 as well, but this year he is all decked out in yellow-and-blue as he took his talents to Maccabi Tel Aviv. This was primarily in order to play in the Euroleague which was something that Hapoel Jerusalem who are in the EuroCup couldn’t offer at this time. While one day that may a reality for the club, right now the only way the forward was going to test his skills against the top talent in Europe was by moving west by about 60 km.

This move has allowed him to see how he would fare against the likes of Barcelona, Panathinaikos, Real Madrid, Fenerbahce and the rest of the top of the top from around the continent and as they say, so far so good for Randolph. The Alabama product has been able to put together a terrific individual season despite the struggles that the team has experienced and this will now be the chance for him to rectify a bit of the frustrations that the players, staff, management and of course the fans have been experiencing this dreary campaign.

Randolph has always been positive when speaking to the press and continues to push that the team is still building and improving and the proof will be in the pudding as they say in this Cup final after they downed Hapoel Tel Aviv in the semifinals. A trio of Israel State Cups for Randolph would be a massive accomplishment and he knows it which will mean that he will be giving it his absolute all against his former team.

Yovel Zoosman looks to win the State Cup as a captain

Zoos as he is called will be looking to add yet another piece of hardware to his trophy case that is pretty full from wining so many titles throughout the years and includes a Cup with both Maccabi, Jerusalem as well as ALBA Berlin. But this would be the first time that he would be handed the cup and be responsible for hoisting it up with his teammates as a its leader, as the player that has really started coming out of his shell under his head coach Yonatan Alon. As much as Zoosman didn’t want to discuss captaining his team to the title at the pregame press conference, make no mistake, he wants to win this cup and wants to win it badly. He is a supreme competitor and when there is a chance to win something and be the “head of the snake” Zoos is going to want to be there.

Oded Katash tries to win the State Cup as Head Coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv

Yes, Katash has lifted the trophy as a player twice back in the 1990’s and as a head coach twice as the Jerusalem bench boss and once leading Panathinaikos in what was three years in a row. However, he is 0-2 with the yellow-and-blue with both losses coming against, well you already know, Hapoel Jerusalem. This has to be sitting on him like a million ton elephant.

While Katash is always so cool, calm and collected at the pregame pressers, one knows very well that winning is the name of the game and while he likes Jerusalem and he is very good friends with their coach Yonatan Alon, it’s got to be killing him that he has not been able to get over this hump. Katash also is aware that there will not be much winning for the club with the Euroleague season long over at this point and the fact that Hapoel Tel Aviv in a series will be a very tall task later on in the season. So, the Cup is a chance to bring home a serious trophy for the entire organization.

Will Jerusalem be able to manage the battle of paint against Maccabi’s bigs

Maccabi without a doubt has a very “big” advantage inside with the likes of Roman Sorkin, Trevion Williams and Jasiel Rivero all able to operate in the paint. With only Austin Wiley as the reds true center, Alon will need other players to step up inside to make sure the yellow-and-blue do not rule the roost. Despite his height, Gaby Chachashvili is not a great defender inside to say the least, while Justin Smith is a power forward who likes to play above the rim. That means Alon will probably go with Chris Johnson and Yovel Zoosman to pick up the slack. The problem with that is they are both really small forwards and will have to work pretty hard to limit them.

Had Jeremy Morgan been dressed instead of Tarik Phillip, Jerusalem would have had some more size that could get batted around in the paint and that way Zoos and CJ would not have to waste energy on the defensive end and play more of an offensive role. Sure Phillip will be tasked with trying to stop Rokas Jokubaitis and Tamir Blatt for the game but had Alon really trusted Or Cornelius then he may not have had to list Phillip and Morgan would have been a real option after having been so crucial for the team’s success in Europe this past month. The bottom line is, the matchups will be very interesting to follow throughout this game.

Maccabi Captain John Dibartolomeo’s legacy

John D has win plenty of titles during his time with Maccabi Tel Aviv but the State Cup has been one trophy that he’s had a problem with, raising it just once back in 2021 against a very, very shorthanded Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion that featured just one import player. In fact, Rishon started with a bunch of their youth players in the game that they never were going to have a chance to win no matter how many points Akil Mitchell was going to score.

That is the only State Cup that Dibartolomeo has been able to win with the yellow-and-blue and in order to really be a legendary player with the club, he’s got to win more than that one. Of course, basketball is a team game and yes, Dibartolomeo has won 6 league titles and a number of preseason winner cups, but legacies are left when winning the big games and the thought of losing three straight to Hapoel Jerusalem can’t be sitting too well with the captain.