{"id":159211,"date":"2025-10-17T10:24:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T10:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=159211"},"modified":"2025-10-17T10:25:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T10:25:52","slug":"the-crazy-stat-the-last-play-the-place-that-says-it-all-can-maccabi-get-onto-the-same-page-before-its-too-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/the-crazy-stat-the-last-play-the-place-that-says-it-all-can-maccabi-get-onto-the-same-page-before-its-too-late\/","title":{"rendered":"The crazy stat, the last play, the place that says it all: Can Maccabi get onto the same page before it’s too late?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One could feel every ounce of Oded Katash\u2019s frustration right through the television following Maccabi Tel Aviv\u2019s crushing 95-94 loss to Olympiacos on Gameday five of the Euroleague. The bench boss was at a loss for words as his emotions were chiseled into his face and who could blame him.<\/p>\n

His team once again came up short, but did so in the most brutal fashion having held the lead for more than 36 minutes of the game. However, when the clock hit triple zero they found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreline yet again to to drop their record 1-4. <\/p>\n

The yellow-and-blue had everything going for them on this night. They took an early lead and made sure to keep ahead of the Piraeus based team throughout the ups and downs of the contest but it was clear who was clear who was in control and it would take a collapse of gigantic proportions having been up by 13 points in the final frame.
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Photo credit: Djordje Kostic, Maccabi Tel Aviv<\/p><\/div>
\nBut the 2025-2026 version of Maccabi thus far have not been able to put together a full 40 minute game in continental action other than against, ironically, Hapoel Tel Aviv. <\/p>\n

Katash saw his squad clicking on all cylinders with Jaylen Hoard looking like last season\u2019s version of Jaylen Hoard, Roman Sorkin playing solid basketball, Oshae Brissett being the player that Claudio Coldebella wanted to see when he signed him and Jeff Dowtin Jr., wow Jeff Dowtin Jr., what can you say. If there was ever a streaky shooter, well there\u2019s no doubt Dowtin Jr. is it. <\/p>\n

Going 6\/7 from beyond the arc, Dowtin Jr. was hitting everything in sight, the pure definition of unconscious shooting if you looked it up in the Miriam-Webster Dictionary.
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Lonnie Walker – Photo credit: Djordje Kostic, Maccabi Tel Aviv<\/p><\/div>
\nAdd to that Lonnie Walker who stepped onto the court like a man on a mission and with the energy that Katash had no doubt wanted to see (and would have liked to have seen against Barcelona) and once again the talent of Maccabi Tel Aviv was oozing exactly like it could and like it should when the team was constructed. <\/p>\n

But Olympiacos, a team that Maccabi haven\u2019t beaten now in five straight encounters stayed with the yellow-and-blue through thick and thin. When a player like Nikola Milutinov can score a career best 23 points and was allowed to do as he pleased under the basket, Sasha Vezenkov plays like an MVP an chalks up a double-double and Tyler Dorsey scores in bunches, well there\u2019s a good chance no matter how long you were in the lead, you\u2019ve got to be in front at the end of the game.<\/p>\n

In this case it was Georgios Bartzokas\u2019s squad that snatched the win from the jaws of defeat.
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Tyson Ward – Photo Credit: Olympiacos<\/p><\/div>
\nThe stats don\u2019t lie, Olympiacos out-rebounded Maccabi 33-30, they had more assists 26-15 with Tyson Ward recording a Euroleague career high in helpers with 8 and in performance index which was an absolute blowout in favor of the Greeks 115-93, then it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that the yellow-and-blue came up short.<\/p>\n

Maccabi took nine more shots and had one more free throw, but Olympiacos hit 16 from the charity stripe and the yellow-and-blue 14 and there you have it. Olympiacos were more efficient and made sure to hit their shots from the line especially down the stretch when Maccabi saw their lead slip slide away.<\/p>\n

Katash\u2019s crew led 84-71 with 6:58 left thanks to a John Dibartolomeo 3-pointer, 86-73 with 6:16 to go after a Hoard deuce, 88-75 with 5:40 remaining in regulation, 90-77 with 4:50 left as Brissett scored a bucket and 93-81 after a Dowtin triple with 3:55 until the end of the game. The situation couldn\u2019t have been any better for Maccabi.
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Sasha Vezenkov and Nikola Milutinov – Photo Credit: Olympiacos<\/p><\/div>
\nBut it all unravelled from there on in. Milutinov dropped a quartet of free throws and added a basket for six straight points, Ward nailed a 3 and Vezenkov hit a trio from the line and scored a deuce and that was that. Game. Set. Match.<\/p>\n

Sure, Maccabi had a chance the last ball when Oded Katash took a timeout which looked as if John D would possibly take a game winning shot as he sat and intently looked on. But it was Walker who took the ball up the court with what was an eternity of time on the clock, 17 seconds worth and ended up dribbling and dribbling and dribbling some more before taking what was an awful off balance shot that came up short.<\/p>\n

The frustration that Katash showed perhaps was not just that his team has lost in one of the most cruelest manners, but they came up short because maybe, just maybe the play that was drawn up in the timeout wasn\u2019t the one that was in fact executed. <\/p>\n

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\u05dc\u05d5\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d5\u05d5\u05e7\u05e8 \u05d1\u05de\u05e1\u05e8 \u05dc\u05d0\u05d5\u05d4\u05d3\u05d9\u05dd pic.twitter.com\/co70i6WkJr<\/a><\/p>\n

— Sports Rabbi (@thesportsrabbi) October 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n