"I do not want to be remembered as a provocateur, but as a winner."
This is what Guy Pnini said recently in several interviews, and the past year has certainly crowned him the biggest winner in Israeli basketball since the retirement of one, Meir Tapiro.
Pnini has come a long way since November 11, 2001, his magical evening in Romema, when in the Maccabi Raanana uniform he scored a basket of victory from the end of the field at the last second until he became a go-to guy at Hapoel Holon and the Israeli team, where he will soon be captain.
Last week, Bashiktash's coach Ahmet Kandmir looked particularly nervous after his team's 72:70 loss to Hapoel Holon in Istanbul.
In the timeout, half a minute before the end of the game and when he has a 69:70 advantage in the second game in the play-off of the Champions League, he warned his players against Pnini and asked to make a substitution with every block on the Israeli star.
But Pnini, in most of his wisdom, made a "slip" (deceiving as if he was going up to block for Regland) and actually rolled into a corner on his own.
Until then Pnini had no point, but for those moments he is playing.
His big three set up an advantage and kept Holon alive ahead of tonight's third decisive game at Toto Hall.
Especially at the end of his life as a player (38 and a half years old), when his legs have difficulty moving quickly and despite a jump that was never his strong point, Pnini becomes the biggest winner in Israeli basketball.
When Maccabi Tel Aviv's ardent fans look longingly at his clutch moves, they surely ask: "Why doesn't he stay with us?"
"In Holon, you get the leadership of Pnini, which was not the case at the time at Maccabi," explains Erez Edelstein, who coached the forward at Maccabi Tel Aviv and especially the Israeli team. "It all stems from high game intelligence and situation recognition.
"Most of Pnini's crucial baskets are due to the use of a block, when he blocks, and then he recognizes how the defense reacts."
How does a player who is not fast and does not produce shots from a dribble, become a serial winner?
"What Penny has in his head does not have a lot of players. He is not afraid to take last shots and makes good use of the fact that he has players next to him who draw fire."
Pearls in the Israeli national team uniform, Photo: Alan Shiber
"Desire, faith and fearlessness - these are the three main elements that make you a winner," says Adi Gordon, the great clutch player in Israeli basketball outside Maccabi Tel Aviv.
"Winner is not only the desire to take the last shot, it is also to make the right decision, because delivery to the basket is also a win-win."
Holon hope not to reach a high pulse again in the last minutes of the decisive game against the Turks tonight (21:00), but at least they have someone to rely on.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us