Eighteen years ago, nothing fell: Givat Shmuel became a group that had a settlement, and not the other way • Ariel Beit Halahmi, the operator of this celebration, recalls the qualifications for the playoff semifinals and the finals, and made us miss: "It was the late Mutti Amsalem's life project"
Bethlehemi in the season in question. Has not changed
Photo:
Alan Shaver
2002/03 was the biggest sporting season in the history of the city of Givat Shmuel. The local Maccabi played spectacular basketball, finishing fourth in the table, earning for the first time in its history for the Premier League playoff semifinals and the National Cup finals - and showcasing the season's player, Charles Minneland.
We talked to Ariel Beit Halahmi, the team coach that season, and brought him back to the big moments and the special stories.
Purchased from Home Center
"We even started with two other strangers (Damon Patterson and Nick Stapleton), but we released them quickly," says Bethlehemi, "instead we brought in Andrew McCollum, and the late Moti Amsalem (club chairman; JM) found Kelly McCarthy Works in a store like Home Center after not finding a team. Everyone remembers him from the season in Jerusalem, but without Moti you can't know what would happen to him. We brought Tamir Goodman on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv. He came with a lot of pressure and expectations, but it didn't work.
"This season was crazy: We played with six and a half players and broke some historic records (55 penalties in a game without an extension, a record that has since been broken). We led the league in bowls and a few parameters."
"We led until the third quarter"
"It was a group that had a settlement," says Beit-Halahmi, of the historic qualifying for the Cup final, in which his team lost 96:83 to David Blatt's Maccabi Tel Aviv. "The union made sure we couldn't fill the hall and even thought of moving it to another lot, but Amsalem G". L told them they would bring him 5,000 tickets - and we sold everything in. More than half of Givat Shmuel residents left the houses and arrived.
"We led until the third quarter," the coach recalls, "but then we started running out of power. Derrick Sharp came off the bench and made the final. David, with his methods, would let all his players play for the first five minutes - and it paid off in the end."
Best, except for Parker
The diamond in the crown was of course Charles Minneland. Ganner is unscrupulous, playing more than 36 minutes and scoring more than 25 points on average per game, which ranked him first in the league in points and efficiency. Despite his relatively low height (only 197 inches), he was also third in rebounds (7.8) thanks to strong willpower, good hands and excellent position.
"Charles wanted to play in position 3, and every year I would work on him this year, he would only play in that position. In the end I would let him play in 4 and sometimes in 5," laughs Bethlehemi, stating decisively: "He was the best player in the league in the same "In his three years in Israel, nobody was better than him, except Anthony Parker."
In Israel, they did not understand how a player like Minland, who averaged more than 22 points in all his seasons in the league, stayed for three seasons in Givat Shmuel and did not upgrade to a larger team. Now the Bethlehemi reveals what has happened.
"We were on a minimum budget, and only Mutti could leave such players with us. At each season he would offer Charles a contract for next season, and the player would answer 'I did a good season, so I'll wait a bit and maybe some offers will come during the summer.
When Charles flew to the US, Moti would call all the teams and tell them he signed with him. Minland would sit at home and just wouldn't come up with an offer. During the summer Moti would call him, add him here and there and convince him to sign. could have. That club was his life project, and this is the season he was most proud of. "