1
Great satisfaction at Hapoel Jerusalem after the 56:78 victory yesterday (Saturday) over Nes Ziona, which was the eighth in nine games in all competitions since the appointment of Yotam Halperin as coach.
The team was mostly satisfied with the defensive side.
"We are happy with our defense. We did a great job when we stopped them on defense. They have very talented players and we were able to stop them on offense as well. We performed well," said Willie Workman, one of the team's outstanding defensive markers.
"We can play better," the forward added.
"We have not yet reached our full potential. We have more work to do to be better."
Halperin, who was very disappointed with the ability his players demonstrated last week against Hapoel Tel Aviv, this time already sounds completely different: "We were focused for almost 40 minutes and we had almost no defensive falls. We managed to stop a good team with a great coach at home. In such away games the defense is key".
2
In the last few days some of the players have not felt well.
Medical staff members immediately sent them for corona tests to rule out infection within the group.
Even on the morning of the game it was still not clear which of them would be eligible, but the players made it clear to Halperin that they would be ready and available to the professional team.
After the game the coach was in a good mood and when asked if his team plays like a champion he said "I do not know these words, they are not in our lexicon. We do not yet play high level basketball".
Then one of the journalists asked him if coach Yotam Halperin was a lift and replied: "What happened to you, in total we won a few games."
3
Ness Ziona were shocked by the two defeats within a few days.
"We played shockingly and got a kick in the ass," said captain Tal Dan.
"There's a bunch of men here who got punched and alas if we don't get to return next week. We have the experience and character to get up from this week and get back to ourselves."
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