Sam Hinkie, the one-time Philadelphia 76ers general manager coined the term “Trust the Process” roughly a decade ago. The philosophy behind it was that his team would tank game after game in order to have the chance to get a higher pick in the NBA Draft Lottery which would in term allow the club to assemble a group of talented youngsters which would be the base for a the upcoming seasons and compete for the championship.

It worked as Joel Embiid came on board soon thereafter and starting from the 2017/18 season, the 76ers were a constant threat in the Eastern Conference having made the playoffs through the 2023/24 season.

While the 76ers didn’t make it past the conference semifinals, they were consistently in the mix year after year because they trusted the process.

Granted they didn’t win the NBA title and never even made it to the championship series let alone the conference finals, but the 76ers and their fans had hope year in and year out that this was going to be their season to celebrate.

Maccabi Tel Aviv has been going through their process as well this season, one that has been frustrating to say the least after the opening six games.

Yes, the yellow-and-blue are a new team with a lot of additions to the roster that finished way out of the playoff picture last season and that has been part of the process in order to integrate a group of newcomers to a philosophy and style of its head coach and the holdovers from last year.

It’s been a process that they all have to buy into and trust from top to bottom, whether it’s Lonnie Walker or Gur Lavy. Each and every one of the players and staff know that there are going to be growing pains, especially early on and with a 1-4 record coming into the Real Madrid clash. That fact was front and center after having lost two games last week, one being a blowout to Barcelona and the other a tough and painful loss to Olympiacos in which should have been a win every which way the scenario had played out.

There is a process but there is also pressure. When Maccabi fell behind by a pair of points with 25 seconds left in a game that they had been ahead of Real Madrid since a fabulous second quarter that saw Lonnie Walker score 20 (!) points, it looked like it was going to be Déjà vu all over again as the New York Yankees legendary catcher Yogi Berra had put it.

When Walker badly missed a 3-point attempt with 9 seconds left, it looked even bleaker for Katash and Maccabi as a 1-5 record was staring them right in their faces.

But the holdovers from last season, yes the holdovers a term used in jest as they are two of the top Israelis in the league, Roman Sorkin and Tamir Blatt combined on what will be one of the plays that could potentially save the process and in turn save their season.

Blatt sent a long inbound pass to Sorkin who in turn handed the ball back to the point guard who took a dribble and launched NBA 3-pointer over a leaping Facundo Campazzo and swish it went right through the net to give Maccabi the 92-91 lead and the win.

The play worked to perfection.

Campazzo, who had been guarding Blatt on the inbound took a bump from the Sabra and he raced to get the ball as the Argentine ran into a Sorkin pick giving Blatt that extra inch to get off the shot and bam.

Maccabi, now at 2-4 have a bit of breathing room and despite the loss to Olympiacos last week, did play well enough to win as they have strung together two strong performances in a row which must give Katash some satisfaction that the process is moving along in the right direction.

However, there is plenty of work to be done and the bench boss knows it all too well.

Maccabi need to add another guard and big man to begin with. Getting outrebounded 41-22 isn’t going to win you many games and Katash knows it. A center must, must, must be signed ASAP and there are some available now that the NBA teams made their final cuts. If the yellow-and-blue want to go anywhere this season they need to either bring someone in or let Cliff Omoruyi get a chance to see if he can help in this area. The rookie center had now been dressed for two straight games but didn’t see a second on the floor.

Next, Maccabi needs to bring in another guard, a ball handler that can help orchestrate the offense as it’s crystal clear that they are lacking in one. Jeff Dowtin is a shooter and we saw very little of that against Real with the guard just playing 7:36 and committing two turnovers in that time with no points.

These two are not luxury signings but are necessities especially with the Euroleague slated to return to Israel in December.

This is all part of the process just as Lonnie Walker finding some sort of consistency is.

The former NBA shooting guard had one of the best quarters that any Euroleague player has ever had with 20 points in the second quarter, putting Maccabi ahead by halftime in a period that they outscored Real 40-21. Walker couldn’t miss going 2/3 from two, 5/5 from three and 4/4 from the line over the course of the first half for 23 points.

However, the second half he shot blanks with 1/3 from two, 0/5 from 3 and 2/4 from the charity stripe for 4 points.

Walker has to be able to put together a full game if Maccabi have any designs of finding a way into the Play In or playoffs. He’s the undisputed star of the show and he also knows it. He also is very well aware that he has to be better as he stated in his postgame comments.

But that is all part of the process.

Next week is yet another Euroleague Double Week with a trip to OAKA and Panathinaikos on the docket along with a “home away from home” tilt in Serbia against Red Star Belgrade.

Maccabi needs to keep plowing away and hold onto the hope that in a week from now they could be, yes amazingly could be at .500 with a 4-4 record. It won’t be easy as PAO is in first place with a 4-1 record but they are also at this time of the season a flawed team, just like everyone else. Plus, a faceoff between Kendrick Nunn and Lonnie Walker is very, very tasty to say the least.

Katash doesn’t want to get too high after this win and knows that he’s got plenty to do as does general manager Claudio Coldebella.

But he also believes that everyone needs to continue to buy in and “Trust the Process” if Maccabi wants to have any chance to do something special this season.