The new weight on Oded Kattash's shoulders, and the biggest question mark at Maccabi Tel Aviv
The members of "Double Dribble" discussed the intriguing roster built by the yellow-and-blues, specifically the backcourt. Will Lonnie Walker be missed, and who will take the final shot?
In the latest episode of "Double Dribble," the panel members — Dror Hoffman, Roi Zuckerman, and Elad Hoffman — discussed, among other things, the new and intriguing roster built at Maccabi Tel Aviv.
"When you look at positions 1 and 2, there are more players," said Dror Hoffman. "The question now is the puzzle: how each one can play with the other. Bottom line, Maccabi has upgraded and changed phase. You can say many things about what happened behind the scenes, but the budget has also upgraded significantly — by 30 to 50 percent compared to the previous one. There are many more players earning over a million dollars, which used to be reserved for a few. Today, we are talking about almost ten such players."
Roi Zuckerman added:
"It must also be said that this is the best roster Oded Kattash has had since the BBC trio left (Baldwin, Colson, and Lorenzo Brown). For the last two years, we have said that Kattash is a great coach who lacked enough tools; this year, there is a different weight on his back because of the roster they assembled for him."
Elad Hoffman noted: "First of all, the question is what they discussed regarding Keon Wallace when they brought him in. He played for three years in the G-League. Arriving in Europe is a different challenge. I think he will eventually be a 3-and-D player, that's the goal, though his shooting isn't elite."
"Jimmy Clark, Yam Madar, and Lundberg will be the ones handling the ball and making decisions," Elad continued. "It seems Maccabi decided to go with the system rather than relying on one player to beat the opponent alone on a crazy day. It seems to suit Oded. And one last thing: when and to whom can we actually throw the ball to save us? Jimmy Clark did it just fine."
Dror Hoffman concluded: "Let's talk about the main question mark. Maccabi's problem here is the lack of a primary scorer and inconsistent 3-point shooting. Last year, Maccabi scored 90 points but ranked 12th in 3-point percentage. Tamir Blatt and Lonnie Walker have left, the latter being a player who could hit 8 out of 11. Lundberg shot 32.5% from deep last year, Clark 30.8%, and Yam Madar 16%. Wallace shot 37% in the NBA, but that remains a big question mark for Maccabi."
