Maccabi Tel Aviv fall in first preseason friendly: Wallace scores 20 points but couldn't save 'the Elephants' on a day of severe roster depletion

Saigon, on a late summer afternoon with no ball rolling in the V.League, I sat in front of the screen following Maccabi Tel Aviv's first preseason friendly. One detail made me pause longer than the others: the final score of 84-86. A loss, but the way they lost is what matters. Head coach Oded Kattash entered the game with a patchwork lineup. Several key players were absent due to national team duty, injuries, or not yet at peak fitness. This is a context I know all too well: summer without ball rolling, but the sound of unpaid wages echoes — and so do the sighs of coaches having to manage with a depleted roster. Maccabi started like a machine. After the first quarter, they led 23-17. By halftime, the gap widened to 53-38. The third quarter ended with a 72-63 advantage. Watching the flow, it felt like this would be a perfect practice session for the reigning champions. But basketball never ends in the third quarter. Hapoel Herzliya suddenly surged in the final minutes. They completed the comeback, winning 86-84. This late-game collapse raises the question: is this merely a fitness issue of a depleted roster, or a sign of a deeper problem in maintaining game rhythm? The only bright spot for Maccabi was Keaton Wallace. He scored 20 points, including 10 in the first quarter and 14 by halftime. In a context where the team was missing so many key players, Wallace emerged as a clear offensive anchor. But based on my experience following games, a player scoring 20 points in the first preseason game, in a closed-door context with a depleted roster, doesn't say much about the entire system. Looking at Maccabi's scoreboard, the dependence on Wallace is inevitable. Will Rayman had 8 points, Amit Abu, Jundy, and Bonzie Colson each had 6, while Armand Bykota and Shane Hunter had 4 each. This scoring distribution doesn't show clear offensive depth. A big club like Maccabi Tel Aviv cannot rely on a single spearhead when the regular season begins. What interests me more is how Coach Kattash managed the personnel puzzle. The roster was depleted for three reasons: several players were on national team duty, Jimmy Clark was injured, and T.J. Leaf and Gur Lavi hadn't reached peak fitness. These are standard operational constraints in European basketball, where international and club schedules often overlap. People call it a slip; I call it the place where one begins to stand firm. For Maccabi, this loss could be a slip, but also an opportunity for the coaching staff to see issues that need solving before the regular season starts. Leading by 15 points at halftime and then losing suggests the problem lies in maintaining tempo and focus when the opponent accelerates in the closing stages. The game was played behind closed doors, without fans and media. This limits external evaluation but allows the coaching staff internal space to experiment. I cannot accurately assess Maccabi's tactical system from one closed preseason game, but one thing is clear: this team is in a rebuilding phase. Pressure from the national team schedule is a recurring factor that Israeli teams must face. For Maccabi, this is a bigger challenge because they are the team with the most players called up. This creates a reality: Maccabi's full roster can only be seen in a short window between national team gatherings. Hapoel Herzliya's late surge teaches an important lesson: in basketball, a lead is never safe if the team doesn't maintain focus. Maccabi played well for three quarters but lacked sharpness in the final period. This could be a fitness issue, or a sign of lack of cohesion when the lineup hasn't had enough time playing together. From a team management perspective, this game was more of a personnel evaluation tool than a real competitive test. Maccabi needs to see who can take on which role in a depleted context. Wallace showed he can be a reliable offensive option, but the bigger question is whether he can maintain this efficiency against higher-quality defenses in the regular season. Summer without ball rolling, but I hear the sound of unpaid wages echoing. In basketball, debt isn't just money — it's time, fitness, and preparation. Maccabi owes itself a full season with a complete roster. This first friendly is just the beginning of a long journey. The truth is Maccabi Tel Aviv didn't show much in this game beyond having a notable offensive talent in Wallace. But basketball is not a one-man sport. When the key players return and the roster is full, that's when we can accurately assess the true strength of this team. There's a question I keep asking myself when writing about games like this: are we viewing Wallace's performance too positively simply because it stands out in a depleted context? I don't have a definitive answer, but I know basketball will answer through the upcoming games. What I believe is: a team like Maccabi Tel Aviv cannot be judged by their first preseason game. They need time, they need their key players back, and they need losses like this to see their weaknesses more clearly. Today's slip could be where they begin to stand firm in the future. When football stops rolling, money still rolls — and debts remain still. In basketball, the same happens. Maccabi is paying off the debt of a summer without personnel. But the season is long, and I believe this team will find a way to stand firm. This 84-86 loss will soon be forgotten, but the lessons from it will not. Wallace scored 20 points, but basketball is a team sport. When the roster is full, when the key players return, when game tempo is better managed in the closing stages — that's when we'll see who Maccabi Tel Aviv truly is.