Itoudis: \u201cVery tough game, as every game, especially because it\u2019s our rival in the league as well,\u201d Hapoel coach Dimitris Itoudis said prior to the game. \u201cWe know each other, we know the importance, but it\u2019s important that it\u2019s a EuroLeague game.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG_20250528_213122_233.jpg\")
Dimitrios Itoudis – Photo credit: Dov Halickman and Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s more a historical day for Hapoel Tel Aviv than Maccabi Tel Aviv,\u201d Maccabi coach Oded Katash said. \u201cOf course, two Israeli teams are meeting, but Maccabi Tel Aviv has been in the EuroLeague many years. For Hapoel it\u2019s more of a celebration. But we need to adjust our preparation for the event.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, I’ve been on the other side before,\u201d Hapoel (and former Maccabi) guard Chris Jones said of the importance of the derby. \u201cI know the type of energy that this type of game brings. It\u2019s the first one, EuroLeague, so we’re expecting a great atmosphere and a lot of energy in this game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like this side a lot better,\u201d Jones continued, comparing his feelings about the two teams. \u201cLike I said, we’re excited. It\u2019s going to be a lot of excitement and ready for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1X1.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
Photo credit: Dov Halickman and Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI believe they understand, even towards the end of the Paris game, they [teammates] started hearing about the derby,\u201d Maccabi captain John DiBartolomeo said, anticipating the magnitude of the contest a little differently to his coach. \u201cThis week there have been a lot of reminders from outside noise and inside noise. They understand it\u2019s a rivalry, they understand it\u2019s the first derby in the EuroLeague ever. It\u2019s hard to put into words the significance of it, but I believe the guys are ready and they\u2019re up for the challenge. It\u2019s exciting to be part of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hapoel is coming into the game off two strong victories last week, the first a 103-87 win over Barcelona, the second a come-from-behind win over Anadolu Efes 87-81.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not surprised \u2013 we\u2019re good, we\u2019re in a good way, we had a good reaction, nothing is given,\u201d Itoudis said. \u201cWe go inside and win things. We had a very bad start against Efes, but we managed in the third and fourth quarter to change our mindset, to change our approach on defense and on offence and we won the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve got great teammates to back me up,\u201d Jones responded when asked about his strong individual performances in the first two rounds, averaging 10.5 points, 1 rebound, 1.5 assists and 1 steal off the bench. \u201cWe won, regardless of how my individual play was. That\u2019s the most important thing. I\u2019m going tomorrow with the same energy. Like I said, it\u2019s going to be a little more energy than normal and come out with a victory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maccabi, on the other hand, suffered disappointing losses to Paris Basketball 94-101 and to Anadolu Efes 78-85.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, it\u2019s always fun to win and not to lose,\u201d Katash said of the team\u2019s start to the season. \u201cSo of course we want to win. We\u2019re coming in after a painful loss, because in terms of experience and aggression we weren\u2019t there, I think we lost the game there.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_7867.jpeg\")
Oded Katash – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cObviously momentum is a big thing in basketball and we wish we had more positive momentum going into the game,\u201d DiBartolomeo said. \u201cThat being said, I think the two games last week gave us more of a wakeup call. Sometimes it takes a punch in the face to wake guys up. I thought we responded well in practice this week and we\u2019ll see how the game goes tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
While on paper Hapoel seems to be a much stronger team this season, Itoudis is remaining poised and focused on the task at hand, conscious that it\u2019s still very early in the season: \u201cWe\u2019re playing against a very good important they\u2019re done, we didn\u2019t achieve anything. We had a good start, which justified the means and justified the course. We\u2019re in a good position, but we have 36 games to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty much, 2-0, 0-2, everything is the same \u2013 it\u2019s a marathon,\u201d Itoudis continued. \u201cIt\u2019s a very important game for us. You know me already. Do I look to you arrogant that I\u2019m approaching games arrogantly? No. Every game has its importance, this even more so because it\u2019s a derby, it\u2019s our rival. But still, it\u2019s a EuroLeague game and a EuroLeague game means a lot. So all the teams are very tough teams to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-09-30-at-19.31.37-scaled.jpeg\")
Photo credit: Hapoel Tel Aviv<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been one week,\u201d DiBartolomeo said, seemingly with a similar mindset. \u201cObviously you want to start better, but if we were 20-0 and they were 0-20 and we had a derby in the EuroLeague, nothing else would matter and that\u2019s the same thing going into this game. Nothing else mattered before and nothing else matters after. Right now, we\u2019re completely focused on Wednesday and the derby. That\u2019s always been the approach when you have derbies, now it\u2019s just a EuroLeague one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t think so,\u201d Jones responded when asked if there\u2019s any additional pressure because the teams are at opposite ends of the table. \u201cI think we go in and continue to execute offensively and defensively like we’ve been doing. Just do what we do best and give ourselves a good chance of winning the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a EuroLeague game which is important, beginning of the season and until now we have not shown that we can play great basketball,\u201d Katash said. \u201cI can\u2019t be sure that it\u2019ll happen tomorrow, but we need to come with a lot more aggression and commitment. We\u2019re playing against a high quality team, they didn\u2019t by chance defeat two good teams already. But we need to come to the game with energy and do extra. We know how much the game and a derby is important to our fans.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_8858.jpeg\")
John DiBartolomeo – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cover Photo Credit: Euroleague & Yehuda Halickman A clash between 1st and 19th on the table usually isn\u2019t something to get excited about. However, Wednesday night at 21:05 Israel time (14:05 Eastern time) will be different, with Hapoel Tel Aviv \u2013 sitting in first 1st place with 2 wins from the first two rounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":158068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n