Hapoel Tel Aviv Lose 86:75 to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Winner Cup Final; Debate Over Coach Itoudis

In depth

Hapoel Tel Aviv lost 86:75 to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Winner Cup final, after squandering a 23-point lead. Coach Dimitris Itoudis said the team threw in the towel and did not match the aggressiveness of its rival. According to Itoudis, the team stopped playing aggressively, and he said this was disappointing.

Itoudis rejected claims of a mental barrier against Maccabi Tel Aviv. He said: "I wasn't here 33 years ago, don't turn this into a story." Kadeem Carrington said: "They took the sting out of us and we couldn't respond." According to him, the players froze, and the defeat was on them.

On the day after the defeat, criticism of the coach arose, and management said Itoudis is not going anywhere. Chairman Satoi Shacham published a post in which he wrote: "This is not a B team, this is not a development league! The time has come to win the championship." Owner Ofer Yanai said the players and staff need to learn lessons from the defeat.