Sapropoulos Junction: Is the credit of the Maccabi Tel Aviv coach starting to run out? | Israel Today

1 Maccabi Tel Aviv's home loss to Red Star Belgrade last Thursday (75:63) was one of Maccabi Tel Aviv's embarrassing losses at Yad Eliyahu since 1977, when it became a European basketball powerhouse.

There have been surprising league losses, such as to Kiryat Ata, or heavy defeats to Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem, but in the European arena in front of a full house, when the team prepares for a week for the game, perhaps only the defeat to Cibona Zagreb in November 1992 (110: 89) is similar.

There is no team in Europe that does not lose at home.

But losing to one of the bottom teams in the Euroleague, when it settles with one foreigner and in most of the game leads by a double-digit advantage - when it does on the pitch as much as it pleases, especially in dictating the pace of the game - it has already lit all the red lights.

Score 37 points at home (!) In the first 30 minutes.

We have never had one like this before.

Not to pass 70 points in the first two home games in the arena (!), The last time this happened was in September 1998, when Maccabi was defeated by Panathinaikos and Zero Pilsen, from Europe at the time.

Sapropoulos is pleased with the hall.

A game he will not want to remember against the Red Star, Photo: Oded Karni

2 Maccabi has mitigating circumstances for its situation.

The team is missing a month of preparation and three training camps abroad. Derrick Williams is out of shape, and Ante Žižić is injured. 22 in the half to Iguoca), but even longer preparation would have made it difficult to hide the problems in the team structure.

Just two years ago, the Yellows put together a successful concept that was stopped by the virus.

There was then a team coordinator making a game (Knight Walters), who even after his injury the team reacted quickly and brought in Ark Jackson.

Along with Plan A called Wilbkin, the group also had Plan B with Tyler Dorsey and Elijah Bryant.

Dorsey, a shooting machine and a player capable of producing a dribble, led Maccabi to revolutions and in the fourth quarter together with Wilbkin led the team to heroic victories, along with excellent shooting ability of the assisting team.

Sapropolus with Ziv and Evans.

Will the credit start to run out ?, Photo: Courtesy of the official website of Maccabi Tel Aviv

The team had defensive solutions for top guards (Sussman, Bryant and Dibertolomeo), and the color closure by the umbrella of Tariq Black and Quincy Acey.

From the middle of the season, the team received a "booster" in the form of Danny Abdia.

So it's true that not everything can be recycled, but where has the concept gone?

The 4 away games - tonight and in two days in Lyon - are kind of a crossroads for Yannis Sapropoulos.

No one expects him to win in Milan.

Ettore Messina's side, one basket away from Corey Higgins from the Euroleague final, have been on the verge of relegation ever since with a 4-0 defeat in the final series in Italy to Virtus Bologna, but in the last two weeks have once again hit the wave with a delightful win over CSKA and Vitoria.

Messina may have lost Kevin Panther and Zack Lydie to the Partisan, but his method of exchange in defense relying on high guards and the endless Kyle Haynes, along with Chacho Rodriguez's stunning play-off, will put Milan at the top again this year.

Chris Jones.

Hot greetings from the ex, Photo: Alan Schieber

5 If Sapropolos finishes the week without a win and without an improvement in the team's attacking ability, and also gets two more days of offensive display from Chris Jones (who scored 24 points in the Wheelerban victory in Berlin), which he insisted on giving up this summer, do not be surprised to hear the mantra starred in basketball In the 1990s: "The lights in the club's management offices were on until late at night."