Following the victory in the semi-final on Rishon Lezman, the Jerusalem-based Salman Manson Center makes it clear to Nahariya: "There are no favorites in the final" • Shalvin Mack will not also dress on Thursday • And: On the first meeting of the capital from the Amara Studmeyer

• Zalmanson. Open the quintet and restore confidence in a big way

  Photo:

  Alan Shaver

• Zalmanson and Brown. "Everyone was focused"

  Photo:

  Alan Shaver

1. Before the semi-finals (Monday), there was great concern at Hapoel Jerusalem about the level of readiness with which the players would come - the high level of concentration we saw from them in recent games in Europe or the lack of sharpness that resulted in three league losses. "You can't do a switch at once," the group said.

But Encourage Ketch has a bunch of mature players who came this year in record preparation for every important game and this time did the job with a remarkable 78:90 on Maccabi Rishon Lezion on the way to the Cup final on Thursday against Urban Nahariya.

"For a long time, I didn't see the players so focused," he said at the end of the Zalmanson era that opened in the quintet and contributed quite a bit to the win. "See it in the eyes of everyone. It's just fun to go to war like that."

2. Despite the smiles after the game, you could feel in the locker room and among club members that there are no special celebrations and everyone understands that the real task is ahead of them - to keep the trophy. "We are not celebrating and we will not get too far with our heads up," Zelmanson clarified, "in the finals there are no favorites."

As in the semi-final game, Thursday's striker who is expected to stay out of the roster is Shalvin Mack, assuming all five foreigners who played against Rishon Lezion remain healthy. The team members explained the situation to the player already in his early days in Israel and last night you could see that he made the decision well, was involved and the whole game encouraged his friends.

3. Amara Stodmeyer came to the Hall of Safety during the match with his 12-year-old son and received teasing and derogatory calls from Hapoel Jerusalem fans. At first the actor seemed shocked and tried to calm his son, but later reacted with a cynical smile to the fans for whom he was a legend just a few months ago.

Yotam Halperin, the Reds' athletic director, got up and went to hug Stodmeyer. When he returned to his place, Halperin received compliments and encouragement from a number of the group's fans who did not like the curses and calls to the former BBC star.