Hapoel Tel Aviv is on the brink of basketball history.
Following a 74–65 win over Gran Canaria in Game 1 of the EuroCup finals, the Reds are just one victory away from lifting the trophy – and securing a spot in next season’s prestigious Euroleague. Game 2 of the best-of-three series will tip off Friday night in the Canary Islands. Game 3, if necessary, will be back in Bulgaria next Wednesday.
After spending the entire season in Samokov, Bulgaria, due to the war in Israel, Hapoel has shown remarkable resilience and unity. Its path to this point has been anything but conventional – but on the court, the team has stayed focused and determined.
No one symbolizes that journey more than center Johnathan Motley. Early in the season, Motley left the club, citing the difficult security situation and other opportunities abroad. But owner Ofer Yannay wasn’t willing to let his star go so easily. After weeks of back-and-forth, Motley returned – ultimately becoming the game-changer Hapoel desperately needed. His dominant third-quarter performance in the finals opener, propelled by the 2,000-strong crowd in Samokov helped turn the tide of the series.
Yannay also made a bold coaching decision midseason, replacing head coach Stefanos Dedas with two-time Euroleague champion Dimitris Itoudis, while keeping Dedas on staff as an assistant.
Reason for success
One of his first tough decisions was moving on from NBA veteran Patrick Beverley, who returned after injury but struggled to fit Itoudis’s vision.
“A healthy locker room is the reason for our success,” the coach has said repeatedly – and the message has been clear: team culture comes first.
Among those who’ve flourished under Itoudis is Marcus Foster, who began the season on the bubble but emerged as a leading scorer. His off-balance jumper to give Hapoel the lead in a decisive semifinal against Valencia may be the biggest shot of the season.
Antonio Blakeney, another volume scorer with a complicated Tel Aviv start, has also found new life in the playoffs.
Yet it’s the club’s Israeli core – Yam Madar, Tomer Ginat, and Bar Timor – that forms the emotional backbone of the team. Madar, who returned midseason from Bayern Munich, reunited with Itoudis, his former coach at Fenerbahce, and immediately slotted in as a key playmaker. Ginat, who spurned Maccabi Tel Aviv to come back home to Hapoel, is a local hero and the team’s glue guy. Captain Bar Timor continues to provide steady leadership on and off the floor, embodying the club’s values and resilience.
Together, they have taken Hapoel from a dream to the doorstep of Euroleague reality.
Building a Euroleague-caliber team is no small feat – especially midseason – but Hapoel’s progress is a testament to thoughtful planning, strong leadership, and bold decision-making.
Yannay, a successful entrepreneur, knows that the key to lasting success isn’t just reaching the Euroleague – but building a foundation strong enough to stay there.
Rumors already link Hapoel to even bigger names for next season. Whether or not those moves materialize, the groundwork has been laid.
On Friday, Hapoel Tel Aviv will try to finish what they started. A win would crown a remarkable campaign and return it to Israel as the EuroCup champion – with a Euroleague ticket in hand.
Perhaps, after all, Rome can be built in a day.
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