Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv will make its Israeli League debut on Sunday, hosting Ironi Ness Ziona in Beer Sheba as a result of a 3-game arena ban. The reigning champions will try to recover from the loss to Monaco, a begin the road to defending the crown on the right foot.
The yellows are still without recovering center Wenyen Gabriel, while Jasiel Rivero also is out as the Cuban remained in Belgrade. Rokas Jokubaitis broke his thumb during practice and will be out for the next 3 weeks. As such, Oded Kattash will have at his disposal the following squad: John DiBartolomeo, Jaylen Hoard, Alpha Kaba, Rafi Menco, Roman Sorkin, Omer Mayer, Will Rayman, Oren Sahar, Jake Cohen, Levi Randolph, Yaron Goldman, Ori Cohen and Tamir Blatt.
Maccabi has one ten straight season-opening games in the Israeli league, dating back to 2014. The yellows also hold a 21-4 record against Ness Ziona in the regular season, after sweeping the oranges last season.
Ness Ziona appointed Amit Sherf as head coach over the summer, but kept its Israeli core intact with Itay Segev, Yair Kravitz, Tsuf Ben Moshe and Tomer Levinson. They were joined by former Yeshiva University star Ryan Turell, who is due to miss the game because of an injury. As for foreigners, Maccabi's rivals made a complete overhaul, bringing in guards Darnell Edge and Bryce Brown along with big men Ricky Lindo and Jake van Tubbergen.