The calculated risk of Oz Blazer • What Adam Ariel should be careful of • Nimrod Levy's informed decision • And the team spirit that should interest Golan Gut • Parshas Hashavua

• Blazer. The integration in Maccabi Tel Aviv requires a strong mentality

  Photo: 

  Alan Shiver

• Ariel. Not expecting sentiments from Katsch

  Photo: 

  Oded Karni

A busy week passed over the transfer market in Israeli basketball when most of the senior local players found new teams for the upcoming season. "Israel Today" with a preliminary analysis of the intriguing moves.

Oz Blazer at Maccabi Tel Aviv. Immediately after it was announced that the forward had concluded his terms with the champions, many raised the list of Israeli players who had previously signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv and left quickly after not getting a chance, some did not even recover from drying up on the yellow bench.

The case of Blazer is completely different. He reaches the peak of his career, at the age of 27, and when the situation with the Yellows has been healthy and orderly for years, much to the credit of Yannis Sapropoulos. Professionally the Greek coach will know how to use the new acquisition and reach its full potential, the question is how will the integration be mentally.

The system and conduct at Maccabi Tel Aviv are really not what Blazer recognized in Rishon LeZion or Haifa. The pressure is great, every mistake is counted and at any moment other players will wait to take his place. If he is strong in the head and does not let the noises around make an impact, the blazer has a good chance of succeeding. But even if not, at the age of 28, and in the situation that appears in the Israeli market, almost all the league teams will be underestimated next summer.

Adam Ariel at Hapoel Jerusalem . Fans, coaches, managers, all at Hapoel Jerusalem have been waiting for the reunion between the youth department graduate and the team in red, and this week it finally happened.

Oded Katash is looking for smart players with shooting, especially after the departure of James Paladin, and Ariel should take the opportunity and establish his place in the rotation. At the same time, we have seen that the Jerusalem coach has no sentiments and whoever is not good - all the time - will sit on the sidelines, no matter what his name is and where he comes from.

Ariel will have to improve his defensive game and ensure stability in shooting. Unlike in Rishon LeZion, some games with poor percentages can cause him to make a significant setback in the minutes of the game.

Nimrod Levy. Brad Greenberg loves actors of his kind // Photo: Alan Schieber

Nimrod Levy in Ness Ziona . A player at the level of the talented forward should have continued at Hapoel Jerusalem or at least taken his place in the Eurocup team of Maccabi Rishon LeZion, one of the three most successful teams in Israel in recent seasons, but once the two options were dropped for various reasons, the choice of Ness Ziona seems informed and correct.

Levy has a good relationship with Brad Greenberg who loves tall and long players with good shooting, and there is no reason why the two should not repeat the fruitful cooperation from Maccabi Ashdod in the 2018/19 season.

It should be remembered that Ness Ziona will also play in a European factory, so that Levy will have two frameworks to prove his abilities to both the big teams in Israel and to teams in Europe, and to upgrade his status towards the summer of 2021.

Golan Gut at Maccabi Rishon Lezion.  After four good seasons at Ness Ziona (last season was a little less good), Gut is making a leap forward for a team that in recent years has been more successful and also plays in a more senior European factory.

Golan is good. Fewer personal moves // Photo: Alan Schieber

At the level of defense, Rishon LeZion is upgraded, because Gut holds impressive physical data in relation to Israeli players and when he is in the right mode he is an excellent guard, but in attack he will have to bring his penetration and shooting abilities into the team game and offensive flow that Guy Goodes loves.

In Ness Ziona we could see his talent, but sometimes they were expressed in individual moves and not as part of the team game. If he understands that the most important thing is the success of the team, one can trust Goodes who will already find the way how to get the best out of it.