{"id":171510,"date":"2026-02-18T12:23:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=171510"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:49:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:49:35","slug":"no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\/","title":{"rendered":"No favorites: Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya prepare for the Israel State Cup Final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"205\" allow=\"encrypted-media\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.podomatic.com\/embed\/v2\/podcast\/2480369?episode_id=11053093&#038;theme=dark\" style=\"border: medium; height: 205px; width: 100%;\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nMaccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya will battle it out for the Israel State Cup on Thursday (21:00) at Yad Eliyahu. The yellow-and-blue will look to repeat and win their first cup at home since the 2015\/16 season while the blues will try to capture the trophy for the second time in five years after winning it back in 2022. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Oded Katash<\/strong>, addressed the upcoming opponent, \u201cWe\u2019re coming as a team, we lose and win as a team. I\u2019m happy for specific players who get wins. We\u2019re very excited to reach this stage. We\u2019re coming off a challenging semifinal and an equally tough quarterfinal. It\u2019s a great privilege to be here and we have nothing to lose in tomorrow\u2019s game. Bnei Herzliya are a very talented team with an impressive winning streak and in good form. It\u2019s going to be a big game.\u201d<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.40.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1474\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-171520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.40.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.40-300x288.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.40-768x737.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.40-610x585.jpeg 610w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.40-1080x1036.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><br \/>\nOn Chinanu Onuaku and trying to close him down, \u201cIt\u2019s true that he\u2019s a very dominant player. Some of the things he does come from his size and we recently dealt with players like that in Europe. Red Star and Partizan have players like that. Sometimes we handled it well, sometimes less so. They have bigger lineups and we\u2019ll need to prepare for all of that. It\u2019s easy to mention five or six other players who can cause damage. We\u2019ll have to work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>About Jimmy Clark, \u201cJimmy brings us magic both on and off the court. A lot of talent, a player who\u2019s great to be around, wants to learn and improve. It\u2019s fun to be around him and we\u2019re happy he\u2019s with us. I think he\u2019s made tremendous progress and still has a lot of room to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On being the favorites, \u201cIf you look at the big picture, considering the situation both teams are in, we don\u2019t really see it that way. Whoever wants to think that is fine. But with the injuries we\u2019ve had recently, we\u2019re not in an optimal situation. On the other hand, we see what Herzliya have been doing lately and it\u2019s very impressive. So we\u2019re not coming into this game feeling like favorites, first and foremost, we can be proud. We have nothing to lose, and that\u2019s how we need to approach it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>John DiBartolomeo, captain of Maccabi Tel Aviv<\/strong>, said, \u201cI believe our experience plays an important role in games like this. It\u2019s a cup game and anything can happen. Herzliya are a good and dangerous team. They have many players who can take over a game. We need to stay focused for 40 minutes.\u201d<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39-1x.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1423\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-171518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39-1x.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39-1x-300x278.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39-1x-768x712.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39-1x-610x565.jpeg 610w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39-1x-1080x1001.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><br \/>\nOn the matchup, \u201cPast games are in the past. We\u2019ve been unlucky in this arena. Like Oded said, reaching the final is a great achievement. We\u2019ve put ourselves in a position to win it.\u201d<br \/>\nPlaying against Max Heidegger. \u201cHe\u2019s an amazing player. Offensively, he\u2019s one of the best in the league. I\u2019m happy to see him playing and enjoying basketball. Obviously for us, he\u2019s very dangerous. He\u2019s definitely one of the key players for tomorrow\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Head coach of Bnei Herzliya, Yehua Orland<\/strong>, shared his thoughts, \u201cThere are special preparations as it\u2019s a cup final. Maccabi Tel Aviv are also playing in their home arena, they feel comfortable with the rims and we\u2019ll need to address that too. As for belief, it\u2019s not relevant. I believe I can win, but it doesn\u2019t matter what I think or what we believe. We need to do our job as well as we possibly can.\u201d<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.38-1x.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1425\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-171514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.38-1x.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.38-1x-300x278.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.38-1x-768x713.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.38-1x-610x566.jpeg 610w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.38-1x-1080x1002.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><br \/>\nOn the strategy compared to their semifinal against Hapoel HaEmek, \u201cI don\u2019t think you can compare the games. The roster is different, the style of play is completely different. HaEmek play one way; Maccabi play a completely different way. From the start, we\u2019ll need to bring the aggressiveness that was less effective in the first quarter against HaEmek. We\u2019ll need to stay focused, and if the game plan doesn\u2019t work, we\u2019ll have to adjust. Against HaEmek, it took me 35 minutes to change our approach and system, and when we did, it worked. Oded mentioned that we can play very big lineups, but every game is different, a semifinal is not a final. We know we have to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>About the expectations from his team, \u201cGod forbid anyone comes thinking the word \u2018impossible\u2019 applies in a cup final. That alone means it\u2019s not impossible. As for my experience, I don\u2019t believe in it that much. You can see this year in the EuroLeague that experienced coaches didn\u2019t succeed and some were even fired. I don\u2019t attach much importance to that. We need to come and do our job in the best possible way. That\u2019s what we\u2019re focused on, that\u2019s where we\u2019re investing all our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shalev Lugashi, captain of Bnei Herzliya<\/strong>, added, \u201cMaccabi Tel Aviv are a very good team. Clearly we\u2019re coming in as underdogs. We need to express ourselves the way we have in recent games. We don\u2019t give up until the very last second. The coaches prepare us in the best possible way. I hope we come tomorrow and do it as a team.\u201d<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39f.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1542\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-171516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39f.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39f-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39f-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39f-768x771.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39f-1530x1536.jpeg 1530w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39f-610x612.jpeg 610w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.39f-1080x1084.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><br \/>\nAbout Onuaku\u2019s impact on the squad, \u201cHe pushes us all season. He\u2019s the most dominant player on the team, no question about it. I\u2019ll touch briefly on the cup: from the start of the year, he\u2019s been emphasizing how important it is to him personally. We\u2019ve gotten used to being on the same page as him. When we started preparing for the quarterfinal and semifinal, he took on more responsibility, didn\u2019t let outside noise enter the locker room and before and during the games he took responsibility for himself, encouraged us, and put everything else aside. He came much more prepared than for any other game and for the final he\u2019s preparing us and pushing us as best as he can. As a team, we all want to do it like we did four years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On believing it\u2019s possible after beating Maccabi in high school, \u201cThat\u2019s a game I\u2019ll never forget. Like I said then, the cup has its own rules. Anyone who gives up even a minute before the end, there\u2019s no place for that. Everything can turn around in an instant. It\u2019s a very emotional occasion for me and for the team. I\u2019ve often shown that I rise to the occasion in big moments, and I hope I can show that again. We have many different personalities on the team, and as captain I have the responsibility to connect everyone so each person finds their place, socially and professionally.\u201d<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.46.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1484\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-171522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.46.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.46-300x290.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.46-768x742.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.46-610x589.jpeg 610w, https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.46-1080x1043.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya will battle it out for the Israel State Cup on Thursday (21:00) at Yad Eliyahu. The yellow-and-blue will look to repeat and win their first cup at home since the 2015\/16 season while the blues will try to capture the trophy for the second time in five years after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":171524,"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":[232],"class_list":["post-171510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-israel-state-cup","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>No favorites: Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya prepare for the Israel State Cup Final - Sports Rabbi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No favorites: Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya prepare for the Israel State Cup Final - Sports Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya will battle it out for the Israel State Cup on Thursday (21:00) at Yad Eliyahu. The yellow-and-blue will look to repeat and win their first cup at home since the 2015\/16 season while the blues will try to capture the trophy for the second time in five years after [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T12:23:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T16:49:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.36.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joshua Halickman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joshua Halickman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joshua Halickman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/10150053309b5bf124d40c3812a32bf0\"},\"headline\":\"No favorites: Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya prepare for the Israel State Cup Final\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-18T12:23:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-18T16:49:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1169,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-18-at-13.35.36.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Israel State Cup\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Holyland Hoops\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportsrabbi.com\\\/en\\\/no-favorites-maccabi-tel-aviv-and-bnei-herzliya-prepare-for-the-israel-state-cup-final\\\/\",\"name\":\"No favorites: Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya prepare for the Israel State Cup Final - 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