Maccabi Tel Aviv searches for answers as struggles on the court continue

Oded Katash’s yellow-and-blue is struggling to find its footing following Iffe Lundberg’s injury, with other players yet to step up in his absence.

Chaunce Jenkins scored 18 points, Justin Tillman added 17, and Qua Grant and VJ King each contributed 16 in the win. Roman Sorkin led Maccabi Tel Aviv with 23 points, while Jaylen Hoard added 13 and Keaton Wallace scored 12 in the loss.

Maccabi head coach Katash summed up the defeat.

“We talked before the game, and I said we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. They did what they needed to do and were very aggressive. Everyone knows the schedule we have, and they ran the floor and dictated a fast pace. We shot 2-for-18 from 3-point range in the first half. You have days like that, and you can lose games because of them.”

Kaplan was pleased with his team’s response.

“That’s the power of Maccabi Rishon and its fans. We just need to play hard. Basketball is secondary, and when you come in with the right energy and believe in yourselves, you can play good basketball and win. Credit to the fans for the atmosphere and to the players for their fighting spirit. We took a very painful hit on Monday, and I’m glad we’ve at least started to respond. We still have a lot to make up for.”

Katash’s team came out firing, scoring at will as Clark led the way to give Maccabi a 52-51 halftime lead. However, Real Madrid turned up the offensive pressure after the break, with Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Andres Feliz and Facundo Campazzo leading the charge to secure the victory.

Clark scored 20 points, Colson added 19, and Yam Madar contributed 14 in the defeat. Campazzo led Real Madrid with 21 points, Feliz scored 18, and Luwawu-Cabarrot and Alberto Abalde each added 15.

Katash reflected on the defeat, pointing to his team’s inability to maintain its first-half momentum.

“We had a good first half, but in the second half we just ran out of steam and were tired, especially our guards. Playing against a team like Real is tough, and you have to pick your poison. But when their guards hit their shots and had good possessions, it was just very difficult for us. However, we can take some good things from this game.”

Hoard acknowledged that Maccabi needed to improve its ball movement and find ways to come up with wins without Lundberg.

“We stopped moving the ball, and anytime that happens, it puts us in a hole. It’s not the first time. I’m not sure what we can do to correct it. We have to do it the same way as we did against Valencia. We can’t use Iffe’s absence as an excuse, and we have to find ways to get wins. We have to stay together on the defensive side and share the ball on offense.”

Brissett also stressed the need to learn from the loss.

“Two completely different halves, and we have to learn from this. It’s not great to lose, and we have to be better when a team goes on a run. We let this slip away, and we’re not happy with the result. We have to get better.”

In other Israeli League action, Hapoel Holon eased past Hapoel Beersheba 91-75 after jumping out to a commanding 30-12 lead in the opening quarter and cruising to victory.

Claudell Harris led Holon with 22 points, Brandon Jones added 20, and Adama Sanogo scored 18. Tyreek Smith led Beersheba with 25 points, while Brian Cameron contributed 15 and MJ Walker added 14 in the loss.

“We played solid defense and also had a solid performance on offense,” Holon coach Predrag Krunic said. “It was really important to win this game as we have to integrate some new guys into the team, and we showed character to take this victory.”

“We had a lack of intensity at times. Our concentration on both sides of the ball wasn’t good enough. We had guys who didn’t show up for some reason. We showed no intensity and no heart. Holon was the more aggressive team. We have to learn from this and move forward.”