BallinEurope is previewing all 18 Euroleague Basketball teams ahead of the start of the season. Today it’s the turn of Maccabi Tel Aviv. After getting so close last season, it’s a wildly new roster for Oded Kattash.
They were so close a year ago. Oded Kattash put on some coaching clinics late in the season and through the post-season. It just wasn’t enough for Maccabi Tel Aviv. With a radically different roster, this looks to be a tough campaign for them in Euroleague Basketball.
Last season
Euroleague record: 20-14
Regular season position: 7th
Playoffs: Lost to Panathinaikos (3-2)
Ligat HaAl record: 25-4 (combination of two phases)
Regular season position: 1st
Playoffs: Won finals vs Hapoel Tel Aviv (2-1)
Other: Lost State Cup final (Hapoel Jerusalem)
Who’s gone?
Antonius Cleveland (Lokomotiv Kuban), Joe Thomasson (Gran Canaria), James Webb III (Pinar Karsiyaka), Josh Nebo (Olimpia Milano), Wade Baldwin IV (Fenerbahce), Bonzie Colson (Fenerbahce), Lorenzo Brown (Panathinaikos).
Who is new?
Kobi Simmons (Toronto Raptors), Wenyen Gabriel (Memphis Grizzlies), Levi Randolph (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Jaylen Hoard (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Jordan Loyd (AS Monaco), Rokas Jokubaitis (FC Barcelona), Will Rayman (Saint-Quentin).
Who stayed?
Tamir Blatt, Jasiel Rivero, Jake Cohen, John DiBartolomeo, Roman Sorkin, Rafi Menco.
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Need to know
As a journalist, I have one long standing desire regarding Oded Kattash. I need him to under perform somewhere and then arrive at either Crvena Zvezda or Olympiacos. The reason? So I can write the headline “Red Oded Redemption.” The way he has matured and evolved as a coach, I don’t expect to get that opportunity. Kattash has blossomed into quite the operator and his stock could still rise higher.
What the bookies think
Confidence is not high amongst the sportsbooks when it comes to Maccabi Tel Aviv. Odded Kattash’s side’s prices range from 33/1 to 60/1 with the bulk of Euroleague Basketball betting having them at 50/1.
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What we think
Much as there are some good pieces for stability, most notably Blatt and DiBartolomeo, this is clearly a step back. Oded Kattash will have to enter this season without Baldwin and Brown, both of whom were hugely impressive in yellow last year. This Maccabi Tel Aviv line-up is by no means bad. It just doesn’t scream of a contender when you consider the depth in Euroleague Basketball right now.
Fearless prediction
I’ve got around three blocks of teams in Euroleague this season. There are the super contenders, the scrubs, and then the mad rush in between. While Maccabi Tel Aviv fit into the mad rush, I just can’t see even Oded Kattash bringing them to the higher end of it.
Pick: 15th
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