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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_3047.jpg\")
Wade Baldwin – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cWe’ve maybe built the group a little narrower with a focus on continuity and Wade’s absence is a big blow and disrupts our plans, especially regarding the timing,\u201d Katash said of the questions regarding the team\u2019s depth. \u201cI want to believe that it\u2019s not so bad but we need to prepare for situation that we may be without him for a period of time. We will be without him for around the next two to three games coming and we\u2019ll assess it going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, we all understand the importance of Wade,\u201d Katash continued. \u201cWe\u2019ve built a system and need to prepare for this situation. Regarding tomorrow, we\u2019ll miss him a lot and we\u2019ll be stretched against a deep team. In the EuroLeague, I think that teams understood and have armed themselves, building squads with depth and quality. We\u2019re beginning the season tomorrow, even if we\u2019re missing Wade, we can win with the right energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, Wade is a huge piece of our team offensively, defensively, in the locker room,\u201d Maccabi captain John DiBartolomeo said of Baldwin\u2019s injury. \u201cHe\u2019s a big personality and a big voice \u2013 one of our leaders and one of our best players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both coach and captain agreed that the matchup against Partizan is going to be a big challenge and everyone will need to step up to cover the injuries.
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_3043.jpg\")
Josh Nebo – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cEven if they [Baldwin and Nebo] were both at 100%, tomorrow wouldn\u2019t be easy,\u201d Katash stressed. \u201cWe\u2019re playing against a good team led by coach who isn\u2019t that bad, maybe one of the best coaches that there is. They\u2019ve also got continuity with players and you can feel it. They were one of the best offensive teams in the EuroLeague, I have no doubt that it\u2019ll be the same this season. Almost at every position on the court they can shoot from outside, they\u2019re a very good shooting team. We need to be very focused. It\u2019ll be very intensive. So of course, the injuries to Josh, and definitely to Wade who will be absent tomorrow, have hurt our plans significantly. Everyone will need to step up and bring the result.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFilling his shoes is a heavy task ahead. It doesn\u2019t fall on any one of us,\u201d DiBartolomeo concurred. \u201cEveryone is going to have to step up and give a little more of themselves. It\u2019s just another challenge for us \u2013 early [in the season] for one of those \u2013 but the most important thing is that Wade gets healthy and rejoins us as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being without Baldwin will change things up in the backcourt, but one of the players who will have a bigger role in his absence is Tamir Blatt, who joined Maccabi in the summer after two seasons overseas with ALBA Berlin.
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_3036.jpg\")
Tamir Baldwin – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cFor Tamir, especially with the absence of Wade, he will have a more significant role,\u201d Katash said of the new recruit. \u201cIt\u2019s always exciting to open the season, especially with a new team. It\u2019s never easy to come to a new team, even if Tamir knows half of the locker room. But Tamir, like Lorenzo, we trust him and the EuroLeague isn\u2019t new for him. He comes with EuroLeague experience. He\u2019ll also get used to the new game style like the other new players, he\u2019ll get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the benefits of Maccabi\u2019s offseason was that the team managed to keep together its core, including Baldwin, Lorenzo Brown and Bonzie Colson. In addition to Blatt, over the summer Maccabi also welcomed James Webb III, Antonius Cleveland and Jasiel Rivero, whom the Yellow & Blue are hoping will take them to the next level this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think continuity is something important, especially we kept a core group of guys, something we felt that we could build around,\u201d DiBartolomeo said. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s good to go into a season with continuity. Then again, the things we accomplished last season are last season. Just because we won games last season doesn\u2019t start us off any better this season in terms of everyone coming into this thing at 0-0. We can\u2019t rely on everything we did last season and we\u2019re going to have challenges this season. Obviously, it won\u2019t be introducing 10-11 new players and new coaches. But then again, every season has its own challenges that we have to get over as a team and that will determine how we are.\u201d
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_3394.jpeg\")
Oded Katash – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cThere are some teams which have built their squads anew, there are also some who have built the teams anew with a lot of money, that\u2019s not bad,\u201d Katash said. \u201cThere are things which are impossible to resolve from day today and those are the things that worry me less. The players have confidence and we have new players like Cleveland, Webb, Rivero, who still need to learn. I think this will improve with time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new guys came in with an excellent attitude,\u201d DiBartolomeo said. \u201cThey approached it from the beginning knowing that we were building something and we had something we enjoyed and that we believed in. They came in with the mentality of where can I fit in and where can I add on. So getting these guys ready mentally to be prepared for this game is not something that will be too difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of the new players, Cleveland is the only one without EuroLeague experience, spending the past two seasons with the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League, as well as a short stint with Hapoel Eilat after the end of last NBL season.
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_3073-2.jpg\")
Antonius Cleveland – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cJust play your game and have fun,\u201d Colson, in his second season with Maccabi and in the EuroLeague, of his advice to Cleveland going into his rookie EuroLeague season. \u201cBe consistent with what you do. Just go out there and be yourself. Obviously, it\u2019s a new league for him, but just be yourself and just have fun at the end of the day and everything will follow suit.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the sidelines at the other end of the court will be veteran coach \u017deljko Obradovi\u0107, the 9-time EuroLeague championship head coach, including the 2000 championship with Panathinaikos over Maccabi, with Katash coming off the bench for the Greek team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what kind of atmosphere awaits us there, with the truly phenomenal support that the Maccabi fans give to their team,\u201d Obradovi\u0107 said in the leadup to the game. \u201cThe same coach leads the team, they had some changes to their roster, but the way of playing is the same. That means a lot of transition. They want to get out quick when they give up points \u2013 their energy on offensive rebounds is there. They play a lot through 1-on-1 plays, and they also have a specific attack. We tried to prepare our best to play to our maximum. Let’s try to play a good game and see where we are.\u201d
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_3392.jpg\")
John Dibartolomeo – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cPartizan obviously is a very good team and a very talented team,\u201d DiBartolomeo said of their opponents. \u201cWhen you have a weapon like [Kevin] Punter [who was also named to the 2022-23 All-EuroLeague Second Team], he obviously will draw a lot of attention. They\u2019re well-coached, obviously. So it\u2019ll be a big challenge for us, but playing in front of our home crowd gives us a lot of juice to hopefully pull it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Partizan will also be coming in with a different look to the team with which Maccabi split their games last season, with both teams coming away with home wins (Partizan winning 96-88 in November and Maccabi winning 90-81 in January). While they have lost Yam Madar to Fenerbah\u00e7e, Mathias Lessort to Panathinaikos and Dante Exum to the Dallas Mavericks, they are still a versatile team, including the addition of former top 10 NBA draft pick Frank Kaminsky, who is at the beginning of his first stint in Europe and will cause trouble for Maccabi\u2019s restricted backcourt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that Kaminsky has added for them a bit of versality, definitely offensively, he\u2019s a very skilled player,\u201d Katash said. \u201cHe adds for them especially shooting from outside. It means that we need to do different things against different combinations on the court. I really hope that Josh will be able to play. I want to believe that he will, because he is important to us on both sides of the court, both offensively and defensively.\u201d
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_3039.jpg\")
Bonzie Colson – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nSo what should people expect tonight, especially the new Maccabi players? \u201cI\u2019ve told them that the game is going to be fun, embrace it,\u201d Colson said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have a lot of yellow and blue in the stands, fans cheering for you and cheering for the club. So embrace it, take it all in and just play your game. At the end of the day. This is a game that we love, but no matter what, our fans are going to support us and that\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Months of waiting are over for European basketball fans \u2013 the new season is finally upon us! Maccabi Tel Aviv fans are set to flock to Yad Eliyahu on Thursday night (21:05 IDT \/ 14:05 EDT) to see their team open the season against 5the visiting Partizan Belgrade. \u201cWe’re really excited to start a new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":96419,"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":[3,4,187],"class_list":["post-96396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-euroleague","tag-maccabi-tel-aviv","tag-oded-katash","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n