Maccabi Tel Aviv have a big week ahead of them with a pair of Euroleague games beginning with Barcelona on Tuesday and then Olympiacos on Thursday night in a pair of clashes that will take place at their home away from home in Belgrade, Serbia.

The yellow-and-blue will enter these two contests feeling pretty good with themselves and on a high. After not only defeating Hapoel Tel Aviv in a Euroleague Derby and taking an opening day Israel Winner League victory at Hapoel Beer Sheva, the hostages that had been held for two years by Hamas in Gaza have been released back to their families in Israel.

There’s a lot of unpack for sure for Head Coach Oded Katash and his squad, but first and foremost the bench boss expressed his feelings about the hostages finally being reunited with the nation of Israel.

“With a tremendous amount of emotion and intensity, I’ve been glued to the TV screen for three days now, actually, over the past two years, I’ve become one that has been consumed with the news. I think that it was clear to everyone that until they came back and we knew it was truly over, we couldn’t really get excited. Now we can finally start to rebuild, to bring some color back to our faces and hold our heads high again, because nothing could really change while they were still there.”

“So yes, it’s truly emotional, it’s a great day. I’ve been even more emotional, since I celebrated my birthday two days ago and I was lucky that on that day, the war ended on the tenth of the tenth at twelve. So at least one good thing happened on that day.”

For Maccabi, the upcoming two games will be quite the test as both Barcelona and Olympiacos have identical 2-1 records after the opening trio of matchups which included one for the former which was a tough loss to Hapoel Tel Aviv in the season’s first game. However, since then Barca have won two in a row with victories over both Valencia and Panathinaikos in Athens.

Katash knows that this will not be an easy game for sure, “This is the EuroLeague and the draw wasn’t easy for us. We’re heading into a very special week against two very strong and talented teams that have slightly different styles but again, we’re in our process. I have no doubt these are important tests for us and we’re coming into them in relatively good shape.”

One of Barcelona’s strongest positions on the court is without a doubt that of the center. With wily veterans in Jan Vesely, Willy Hernangomez and Toko Shengelia with both of the latter being able to play the forward position, Katash’s crew will not have an easy time.

However, Katash does have newcomer in Brazilian big man Marcio Santos who all of just 22 years will have to be up to the challenge and the beach boss is convinced that he will be able to handle the task.

“He’s an amazing guy, smart. I think, as you said, he’s very young. I have no doubt he has an upside. You can already feel it, he’s gaining more confidence in what we’re doing. It’s not easy for new players to slowly understand exactly what’s expected or to get used to this level of intensity, but you can feel that the players are gradually gaining more confidence and that’s important for us. We have a very long season ahead.”

Santos, who spoke to the Sports Rabbi prior to the season and then following his 17 point (5/5 from the field, 7/8 from the line) performance in Maccabi’s 104-92 win over Beer Sheva, feels good as he heads into this coming Euroleague Double Week.

“The team is still learning how to play together and Oded Katash’s way to play is really good, because, one night you have one guy score 20 points and the other night you can have another guy. It’s different every night. So everybody on the team has a chance. It feels good. It’s not, like, one guy scoring 20 every game.

“And for me, particularly, I’m just getting used to knowing the players, know who I’m
playing on the court and how you play, how you play on defense, how you play on offense and it’s just reads and learning.”

Santos, who arrived after a season with Ulm has been getting up to speed as to what is expected of him in the Euroleague thanks to the coaching staff and teammates, “I think everybody has been helping. All the coaches all of the time are giving tips tips, like how to set the angle of a screen, when to play this defense, do this and that, so it’s everything about details. They are showing us those details, how you need to play and how you need to guard, really everything. From there you need to make these adjustments and you’ll be good.”

One of the keys that Katash mentioned earlier is that Santos is gaining confidence, but it’s not just the center, it’s the entire team which will hopefully be spurred on by that confidence from the Derby victory and league win as they continue to get used to playing together as a team.

“Confidence to keep going on the path we’re on, to keep training properly, because I believe it’s the good practices that will bring improvement. We just need to stay focused. But it doesn’t change the team. Some games will be better than others and we had a good game against Hapoel Tel Aviv, also a very talented team who are at the level of Olympiacos and Barcelona. So definitely, that win (the Derby) can give us confidence. There’s a natural process of a team coming together and I think this win gave us a real boost of energy but mainly confidence.”

The Brazilian big man confirmed that the Derby win was definitely something that helped the team on a number of levels, “It’s a great feeling and it did help. One day before, the fans sent messages themselves and everything, so you got this hype on you and you have a feeling that even in a game like this that you are down by 20, you can comeback and win the game. So this is the feeling we had. We’re going out there to win all the games.”

Santos for one is super excited to be able to face the likes of Barcelona and Olympiacos after the high of the Derby victory, “It’s really good. It will be my first match against these big teams and yet another double week. So I’m feeling great and I’m feeling confident. But, since it will be my first game (against these teams), sometimes you get a little bit anxious, but it’s not in a bad way. You need to go there and show what you can do, that you can show yourself and what you can do and how your team can play. You try to play the best you can, always.”

The bigger question now is when will the Euroleague games return to the Holy Land as the hostages have been released and the war has come to an end? Will it be prior to the end of the season, perhaps before the next Derby slated for March 5th?

“Hopefully, hopefully,” Katash said. “I think from a sports perspective, this marks a return to normalcy. Hopefully.”