“You’ve Gotta Have Heart”

The 1955 song from the Broadway Musical Damn Yankees sung hey Eddie Fisher couldn’t be any more appropriate on describing what Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 79-78 win over Real Madrid.

It was all about it heart.

Heading into the back end of the EuroLeague Double Week after falling to Fenerbahce in a super tight contest less than 48 hours earlier, Oded Katash’s troops had to get off the mat quickly and ready for last year’s finalist.

And that they did.

From the tip-off it was clear that the Maccabi players, every single one of them dug down deep, put their exhaustion aside from the prior game and just went for gold. That led to a super close game in which Saben Lee hit the game winning fadeaway to secure the club’s third victory of the campaign.

Lee, who was brought in a few weeks ago has had some stellar Euroleague games as the fans in Israel await his arrival in the domestic league as the guard has been staying abroad due to the ongoing war.

But, there is probably not one Maccabi supporter in Israel who really cared about whether he is coming to the Holy Land or not when Lee’s shot went through the hoop and the yellow-and-blue snatched the one point victory from the jaws of defeat. And yet there have been a number of those close shave wins and losses so far this season.

Katash was clearly aware that Real Madrid were coming into this matchup in about the same exact shape as the yellow-and-blue after a tight loss at Olympiacos where Chus Mateo also used a short rotation of players in their 79-69 loss to the Greeks.

The Maccabi bench boss also knew that Los Blancos would not be playing Serge Ibaka due to him having already featured earlier in the week as the NBA Champion is slated only play one game in a double week. Katash then received an additional bonus when Dzanan Musa didn’t play despite having been dressed as Madrid’s rotation took yet another hit.

With that, Katash made sure to keep his team’s heads up after the tight loss to Fenerbahce as he said after that game that he wasn’t sure if he was more frustrated or proud but he was in essence both.

Well, against Real Madrid he was overwhelmingly proud by the time the clock showed all zeroes and Maccabi somehow against all odds with their rotation and injury issues moved their record to 3-4 which puts them right in the middle of a very messy Euroleague standings with tons of teams all bunched up together.

“It wasn’t easy,” Katash said after the game. “But the staff and players understand the situation that we are in. We lost the last game but we knew that we did some very good things. In this game Jaylen Hoard did some great things against Facundo Campazzo as well but it was really our heart that gave us this win.”

Campazzo, the Argentinian star guard who is by far one of the most dynamic and exciting players in the Euroleague was able to do as he pleased early on for Real Madrid and scored 12 of his team’s 14 points when they went on a half ending 14-0 run. But in crunch time, Hoard was able to shut the floor general down and didn’t allow him to make his way to the basket as he did in the second quarter while also holding him to just 1/6 from beyond the arc.

“It’s a game of runs and a long game,” Hoard, who made the jump to the Euroleague thsi season after haven played in the EuroCup with Hapoel Tel Aviv last year. “We started off kind of slow but defensively we stayed together as we looked at the scoreboard throughout the game it was in range and we said to stay with it and we got the win at the end so that was good.”

From Roman Sorkin who scored 13 points and went 3/6 for 50% from 3-point land to Jasiel Rivero who dropped 13 points including a pair from deep with points down the stretch to pull Maccabi to within 78-77 with under a minute to go. And from Rokas Jokubaitis and his 17 points (3/4 from long distance) to Will Rayman who started the game and was a rebound machine throughout his 25 minutes action as he collected no less than 14(!) boards, everyone put in a tremendous amount of heart.

Lee, however, was the one who stole the show with his game winner as well as his 19 points in the game to take the win. The newcomer was clearly the right choice to go with at the end of the game as he could have taken the shot which he did but he could also have driven into the lane and look to draw a foul which he did to the tune of 7 times.

Interestingly enough, Katash thought about having Jokubaitis take the ball on the last play of the game, perhaps as a reward for being with the team day in and day out during the war, but the bench boss explained what happened in the timeout right before.

“Rokas made some huge plays but my assistants whom have to give credit to, said we had to give Saben the ball for the last shot,” and that’s exactly what he did.

Hoard spoke about the winning basket from his point of view, “It was amazing, he hit a big shot. Coach drew it up for him to get to his spot, but it was a good shot and I was ready to crash the boards if he missed it, but once I saw it going in I knew it was good. It was a big time shot and it was a big win for us, hopefully it will give us momentum for the upcoming games and get us back on the winning track.”

Lee also shared his thoughts, “It was tough for me early on and I kept fighting, keep the life alive and we knew it was going to be a tough battle. So we wanted to keep punching and keep going.”

The excitement after the game was thrilling for the players who jumped for joy at the accomplishment and their satisfaction was without question well, well deserved. But Katash was perhaps the most happy of them all, not some much for himself but for the guys who put in their heart and soul in a difficult and really thankless situation.

“I am very happy for the players and we were exhausted after the tough loss. We played great and they had their run but we showed a lot of character. In the end we won with our heart and the great effort the players put in. We were a bit lucky to beat Real Madrid here under the circumstances. I am really happy and really proud of the players. We were a little bit lucky but sometimes you need some luck. I am so happy for the players for their effort, I am really proud.”

This game and this win for Maccabi Tel Aviv was no doubt all about heart and a lot of it.