With the shadow of the war with Hamas hanging over Maccabi Tel Aviv, the yellow-and-blue took to the court in Valencia but came up short, falling 75-66 in Euroleague action.
The contest in Spain, which was originally supposed to be played in Israel but was switched due to the security situation, started off well for Oded Katash’s squad, but very quickly went south.
Following a moment of silence for the victims of the attacks and war, Alex Mumbru’s Valencia used a well-balanced offense, coupled with a Maccabi side that looked very rusty due to not having played or practiced together for close to two weeks, to move to 3-0 on the young season.
Maccabi’s record moved to 1-1 as it will now travel to Greece for a clash with Panathinaikos in Athens on Friday night, where it will try to get back onto the winning track with a number of tough games coming up over the next couple of weeks against Monaco, Milan and Real Madrid.
Tel Aviv’s Bonzie Colson led all scorers with 20 points, Lorenzo Brown added 13 points along with 11 assists, but committed seven turnovers, and James Webb added nine points in the loss. Damien Inglis scored 11 points for Valencia while Victor Claver and Brandon Davies each scored 10 points in the win.
Maccabi to face challenges due to the war
Katash spoke about the game, along with adding some insights as to what challenges Maccabi will be facing over the next while due to the war.
“We were missing some game shape and we struggled to find our rhythm,” Katash began. “We played their tempo and we tried to do our best, but we have to find our rhythm. As you all could see even though we tried to find our energy and focus on the game over the last 10-13 days, to come here to play a normal game tonight, there are some situations in the life that we live where basketball comes second.”
“We couldn’t find the energy – myself, the staff, players, everyone,” Katash continued. “We are going through tough times and you could see that on the court, we tried to focus on basketball and fight. We tried our best and I am just sorry that we disappointed our fans in Israel, but you all have to understand that it’s not easy to play under these circumstances. Our thoughts every second and every minute are with our people in Israel and our soldiers. Hopefully in two days we will try to be better and come with better energy, but it’s never easy. Unfortunately basketball comes second during these days.”
Trying to keep the team together will be critical for Maccabi to succeed, Katash explained.
“We are having a hard time in Israel over the last two weeks. It affects everyone, the Israelis, the foreigners, but we are one team fighting together and we are there for each other fighting together. We are trying to do it on the court, although we didn’t have success tonight. Basketball is a team game but it involves different personalities and we can’t predict how it will affect each player or team member, but we are there to support each other.”
As for Wednesday’s contest itself, Antonius Cleveland opened the game up with an alley-oop dunk off a Brown pass while Jake Cohen did the same when he sent Colson a bounce pass backdoor for an easy dunk while Cohen went from the inside and outside to give the yellow-and-blue a 9-6 lead midway through the first quarter.
Brown went from deep, Chris Jones did the same for Valencia, Josh Nebo dunked, Colson swished a jumper in the paint, Claver hit a 3-pointer and Stefan Jovic added a layup for the hosts to put Valencia ahead 18-17 after ten minutes of play.
Nathan Reuvers and Claver kept scoring for Mumbru’s team as the second quarter got underway, Colson came back with a pair of baskets, Webb drilled home a triple but Jaime Pradilla put down a dunk to tie the game up at 24-24 with five minutes to go in the half.
Josep Puerto and Jovic scored, Cleveland countered but Inglis and Pradilla sent the hosts into halftime up 33-29.
Jasiel Rivero and Colson scored to begin the third quarter as they filled the basket early and often to give Katash’s squad a 40-36 midway through the frame. But Claver went from downtown, Pradilla and Jovic scored inside, Reuvers and Guillem Ferrando dialed up from long distance to cap a 14-0 run and hand Valencia a 50-44 lead after 30 minutes.
Boubacar Toure opened the fourth quarter with a bucket, Webb came back with a 3-pointer, Toure put down a dunk and Chris Jones hit a 3-pointer to go up 60-48 with 5:56 left in the game. Colson hit a deuce and Brown followed with a triple to keep Maccabi relevant.
Inglis came back with a bucket, Cohen, Colson and Tamir Blatt all scored to cut the lead with just under two minutes left, but free-throws by Brandon Davies and Inglis sealed the win for Valencia.
Tamir Blatt also reflected on the situation at hand.
“We’re in Spain and we are thinking of Israel, the families who lost loved ones. The massacre that we experienced is just unbelievable and we all hope that those who are being held hostage will return home very soon.”
Roman Sorkin also shared his thoughts.
“We tried to win, we really did! Despite it all, to tell the truth. Right now basketball isn’t high on the list of priorities in our hearts and minds. I’ve never played a basketball game with less of a desire to play than today.”
Katash also spoke a bit about the uncertainty going forward and how far the club can look ahead.
“I think that is a big part, it’s not the most important thing, we are trying to focus on basketball and the next three days we play away. We can’t look ahead 10 days as we don’t know what will happen. I wish the situation can be solved in the short term, but that is part of the difficulties. We don’t know what will be in two weeks, we don’t even know what will be in two hours.
“We will try and stay united. We know in the back of our minds we are Israeli and we will win in the end, but we don’t know what will be in da10ys from now as that is part of the tough situation we are facing. It was not our A game and we didn’t play our best game especially offensively but you have to give credit to the Valencia defense. We have two tough weeks and a tough schedule coming up.”