After Hapoel Tel Aviv lost the championship series to Maccabi Tel Aviv, club owner Ofer Yannay appeared Wednesday on Sport 5's "5 BaAvir" and spoke at length about Maccabi coach Oded Kattash. Yannay said he wants to see how Kattash handles a team with stars, arguing that Kattash has benefited from coaching a relatively weak roster with low expectations.
"He succeeds with a short roster and as an underdog. That's good, but it gets you to 12th place in the EuroLeague," Yannay said, adding that Hapoel finished sixth this season and spent 22 weeks in first place before slipping late. He contrasted that with Maccabi, saying Kattash must now deal with high-level talent rather than a modest squad.
Yannay specifically mentioned Lonnie Walker, saying, "When he has one star like Lonnie Walker, I don't see him succeeding in controlling him." He said his own team has players such as Elijah, and that managing multiple high-talented players is harder because of the ego that comes with elite talent.
He said Kattash has coached for many years and now needs to prove himself in terms of achievements. According to Yannay, Kattash chose to stay at Maccabi but will not get the tools needed to succeed there as a coach. Yannay also said he told Kattash this in a conversation, and compared past successful Israeli coaches like Pini and David in Europe, while claiming Maccabi has lowered its standards over the past 20 years except for the 2013/2014 season.
