{"id":191909,"date":"2026-09-29T16:49:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=191909"},"modified":"2026-09-29T16:49:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:49:28","slug":"katash-maccabi-tel-aviv-must-be-tougher-and-more-aggressive-against-besiktas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/katash-maccabi-tel-aviv-must-be-tougher-and-more-aggressive-against-besiktas\/","title":{"rendered":"Katash: Maccabi Tel Aviv Must Be \u201cTougher and More Aggressive\u201d Against Besiktas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maccabi Tel Aviv is readying to tipoff against Besiktas on Wednesday (21:05 Israel time) at the Pionir Arena in Belgrade, Serbia which has been serving as the club\u2019s home away from home since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on the Jewish State and the ongoing security situation. <\/p>\n

Following a tough loss to ASVEL Villeurbanne in France in the yellow-and-blue\u2019s Euroleague opener, Head Coach Oded Katash\u2019s squad will look to get back onto the winning track and vine up their record early on in the season. However, Maccabi will have to do it without captain John Dibartolomeo who will be attending his brother\u2019s wedding while Gur Lavi who is still recovering from an injury sustained last season remained in Israel.
\n

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Jimmy Clark and Oded Katash – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nJust before the team boarded their flight to Begrade, Katash along with Jimmy Clark spoke about the team’s early-season struggles, the upcoming double week which sees them visiting Panathinaikos on Friday and the need to become more physical and aggressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s unfortunate that we’re not playing at home in Israel,\u201d Katash began. \u201cIt’s not easy to start another season on the road and hopefully we’ll be back home soon. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be playing in Israel, if you ask us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re facing another team that may not be among the EuroLeague’s top contenders, but that’s what makes these games even more dangerous. We’re still at the beginning of the season and we’ve seen how difficult it is to find consistency at this stage.\u201d
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Jimmy Clark and Oded Katash – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nJimmy Clark who is coming off an injury agreed with the bench boss concerning playing the EuroLeague games back in Israel, \u201cI agree with him wholeheartedly. Just being out here in Israel day-to-day and seeing everything that\u2019s going on, I feel like there’s no reason the games shouldn’t be here. Hopefully they come back soon and we can see how it goes then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maccabi will need to find a way to match their opponent\u2019s aggressiveness and physicality that they had trouble with at ASVEL and at this stage of the season in order to win games you\u2019ve got to do what\u2019s needed to pick up the victory Katash explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings certainly won’t be as smooth or polished as they will be in a few months, but it’s important that we’re ready for the physicality. We simply need to play better and be more physical. Our opponent plays at a high tempo and has already faced some of the EuroLeague’s top teams. We need to match that pace.\u201d
\n

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Jimmy Clark – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nClark feels that one of the ingredients that is needed is just laying it all out on the floor for 40 minutes, \u201cMe personally, I just feel like we need to be together for all 40 minutes, play defense for all 40 minutes and just bring the energy. I feel like if we do that, everything else will take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The game also marks the beginning of Maccabi’s first double week of the season, with two challenging matchups in store. Katash emphasized the importance of managing his roster and getting positive results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll need to make use of our depth and manage the workload. We have two very difficult games ahead of us, which makes Wednesday\u2019s matchup a must-win.\u201d
\n

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Jimmy Clark – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cDouble-game weeks are always hard, especially playing home away from home,\u201d Clark added. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got to make it our home, try to do our best with it and just come out here, bring the energy and play together for all 40 minutes in both of these games to get the outcome we want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to the second game of the week and the opportunity to face \u017deljko Obradovi\u0107, Katash said, \u201cIt’s always nice. I’ve had the opportunity to face him several times, so we’re used to it. It’s always great to return to this arena, with its great atmosphere and energy. It’s a very challenging game against a team with an incredible roster, but it’s difficult to look too far ahead. Right now, we’re focused on tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katash also outlined what he wants to see from his team following its disappointing EuroLeague opener, stressing the need for greater urgency and intensity, \u201cWe need a greater sense of urgency and to execute at a much higher level. There will always be some trial and error. We’ll improve certain things, make adjustments, and put players in better situations.
\n

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Oded Katash – Photo credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cBut we need a certain level of aggression. The EuroLeague is becoming more intense and physical with every passing year and that’s something we’re lacking. We need to be tougher and more aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maccabi Tel Aviv is readying to tipoff against Besiktas on Wednesday (21:05 Israel time) at the Pionir Arena in Belgrade, Serbia which has been serving as the club\u2019s home away from home since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on the Jewish State and the ongoing security situation. Following a tough loss to ASVEL […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":191912,"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":[4],"class_list":["post-191909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-maccabi-tel-aviv","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nKatash: Maccabi Tel Aviv Must Be \u201cTougher and More Aggressive\u201d Against Besiktas - 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\/katash-maccabi-tel-aviv-must-be-tougher-and-more-aggressive-against-besiktas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Katash: Maccabi Tel Aviv Must Be \u201cTougher and More Aggressive\u201d Against Besiktas - Sports Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Maccabi Tel Aviv is readying to tipoff against Besiktas on Wednesday (21:05 Israel time) at the Pionir Arena in Belgrade, Serbia which has been serving as the club\u2019s home away from home since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on the Jewish State and the ongoing security situation. 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