The loss of Maccabi Tel Aviv to Eilat was in the air, but it must be taken in the right proportions.

• Eric Thompson celebrates at the expense of Maccabi. Eilat was not surprised by the victory

  Photo:

  Yehuda ben Yitzhak

1. The big surprise of the cycle, perhaps of the season, was in the air. It was clear that someday Maccabi would pay for the very lacking lineup she plays in the league, plus her dense schedule. The difference between Hapoel Eilat and the other teams that played against the Yellows recently is that she knew how to take and the others didn't. "Money on the floor," they called it Eilat.

Maccabi is suffering from injuries this season, and while in the Euroleague it has four more players - Arun Jackson, Jaylen Reynolds, Angelo Cloyaro and Sandy Cohen - in the league it is committed to one Israeli on the hardwood and after the injury of Yuval Sussman she appeared with seven players only.

Absurdly, Maccabi's rotation in recent times is shorter than groups whose budget is 10-5 percent of its budget. Therefore, joining Amara Stodmaier (who did not play in Eilat) is far more significant to the league than to the Euroleague.

So far, Maccabi has been able to walk among the drops, taking advantage of the rivalry's lack of faith. Until the loss in Eilat, she was the only Euroleague team not to lose in the local frame, but that too has an end and after 16 games she lost for the first time.



But you have to put everything in proportion - Maccabi doesn't have much to play in the league until the playoffs. The first place that guarantees hosting the Final Four is actually already promised.

2. Only in the 15th round did we get a first real surprise this season, when Jerusalem lost to Gilboa. The 18th cycle came and brought us three surprises in one cycle, a "premiere blow" cycle: the first loss of Maccabi Tel Aviv this season, the first home loss of Hapoel Jerusalem in all frames this season (lost to Tel Hapalah that was last before the cycle), And Maccabi Ashdod's first 2020 victory, which surprised Holon and won the home for the first time in three and a half months.

3. In this cycle there are many heroes and it is difficult to decide who to choose as outstanding. Until yesterday evening, I thought of Hapoel Tel Aviv's Mark Lions, who did not hit Ariel Beit Halahmi and gave a show in the Arena; or Paul Stoll, who in a big game left Ashdod Hope. I was also close to choosing Ziv Ben Zvi, Avi Ben Shimol's replacement coordinator, who came this season Eilat from the National League and gave a surprising performance in front of the Maccabi Tel Aviv, but then Gregory Vargas arrived and took the whole box office with an amazing display. The Maccabi Haifa coordinator took two-and-a-half quarters (!) To register a triple-double in a candle garden win and continue the excellent season of the Greens.