By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The early season defeat in the Winner Cup final by Hapoel Jerusalem and a 0-2 start in Euroleague proved enough in order for Maccabi Tel Aviv to fire coach Erez Edelstein.
Ironically the announcement was made in the first morning hours of Sunday after Maccabi Tel Aviv’s win over Hapol Holon. However, this decision does not come as a surprise, despite its timing.
From day one of his hiring, there was scepticism about Edesltein, since Maccabi picked him after trying to lure to Israel coaches like David Blatt and Giorgos Bartzokas. In the end the Israelis “settled” for the coach who was the easiest to get but didn’t have any real Euroleague experience as a head coach. The 55 years old Edelstein is also the head coach of the Israeli national team since 2014.
Rami Hadar is the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Lior Lubin his first assistant. It remains to be seen if Hadar will be an interim solution and the club will try to sign a big name coach for the rest of the season.