Returning residents: The Israelis who played against Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Heichal | Israel Today

Not many Israelis played at Menora Mivtachim Hall (in its various incarnations) against Maccabi Tel

Aviv in the various European settings.

Just before Tamir Blatt and Yuval Sussman go up to the floor tonight (Tuesday, 21:15) in the hall in front of the Yellows with their team Alba Berlin, we returned to the same cases from the past.

Barry Leibowitz

Lewis Harlem (Netherlands), 1973

The great symbol of Hapoel Tel Aviv left the Reds in the 1973/74 season and moved on to Dutch champions Lewis Harlem.

Barry Leibowitz.

Red emblem, Photo: Alan Schieber

Despite being a red symbol, the Israeli audience received Leibowitz with great enthusiasm, and the Basketball Association took the opportunity to give him a gift to mark the seventh place in which the Israeli team was ranked at the European Championships.

In the game itself, Leibowitz was well below his average level.

He finished with just 8 points, and his team was eliminated after a 90:71 loss.

The Yellows moved on and were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Raviv Lemond

Le Mans (France), 2007

In the summer of 2007, the Israeli guard signed for Le Mans, and the draw for the order of the games prompted Lemond and his friends to visit the hall in the first game of the Euroleague season.

The Yellows came with high expectations for Oded Katash's debut game on the lines, but their team looked bad and only thanks to a few mistakes of the French came out with a tight 71:74 that heralded bad for the rest of the season.

Lemond was a young player who, despite a period on the bench of Hapoel Jerusalem, was still not identified with one of Maccabi's rivals.

The yellow crowd was busy kicking and opening the new season, and did not pay special attention to the guard who finished with 4 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes.

Lemond with Le Mans in the hall,

The actor himself was actually very excited: "I remember being excited to come with a foreign team to play in front of the audience in Israel," he says.

"There was a crazy atmosphere, and to see the hall full of 11,000 spectators was special to me. I remember it as a good experience."

By the way, in a game in France about two months later Lemond had already left the excitement behind and excelled with 21 points, but his team surrendered 99:91.

Yotam Halperin

Olympiacos (Greece), 2009

Although he has a contract for another season, the guard, who is considered Maccabi Tel Aviv's great Israeli hope since Katsch, announced that he is interested in moving to Olympiacos. The Yellows received a significant amount of money for him, but the fans did not forgive him. Shouting at Halperin, while Nikola Vujicic, another Yellows player who made a similar move, received a lot of love.

Vujicic and Halperin in Olympiacos uniform, Photo: Alan Schieber

We jump to January.

Olympiacos arrives for an official match at the hall.

This time, too, Halperin "won" a gloomy reception in the stands.

It didn't really bother him and he finished with 14 points, but his team lost 96:83 to Maccabi, which was still carried on the waves of enthusiasm by Pini Gershon's return to the lines.

"I'm not happy that the crowd you grew up with doesn't like you," the player admitted at the end, "I love this crowd and the club, and I hope we meet in the Euroleague final."

Maccabi was eliminated in the top 16, Yotam and the Reds from Piraeus were stopped in the semifinals.

Lior Eliyahu

Kaha Lavoral (Spain), 2009

In the summer of 2009, Eliyahu left Tel Aviv in favor of a financial offer that beckons Makaha to Aboral.

Over time, rumors reached Israel that the talented Israeli forward was not getting along with coach Dusko Ivanovich and began looking for a way back to Israel.

Maybe because of that, and maybe also because they really liked him, the Maccabi management held a respectable ceremony when Eliyahu and Kaha arrived at the hall, and the audience received him with warm applause.

Eliyahu goes up for a block, Photo: Alan Shiber

On the field, Eliyahu did not make any concessions to the ex with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and an index of 17 on the way to a quality 82:91 of the Spaniards.

"The ceremony moved me and it was strange to play against Maccabi," the player said after the game.

"There's a kind of motivation to play against your previous team, and there's something in this hall that puts energy into the rivalry as well."

The end is known, Eliyahu won the Spanish championship with Kaha and returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the summer.

Yuval Sussman and Tamir Blatt

Alba Berlin (Germany), Tonight (21:15, Sports 5)

There is a big difference between the two: Blatt did not play for Maccabi Tel Aviv and in recent years has become associated with Hapoel Jerusalem; Themselves, "says the experienced Lemond," but my tip is to concentrate on the professional side and what the team needs, and not get out of the regular game because of the special event.

"They are both very disciplined, and I believe that is what they will do."

Sussman.

Will arrive at the hall as a guest for the first time, Photo: EPA

secretly.

Already familiar with the feeling, Photo: AP

Notable: Alex Tios

Alex Tios, who holds Israeli citizenship, twice played against Maccabi Tel Aviv in a European arena. The second was last season in the Real Madrid uniform when he partnered five and a half minutes and did not score a point, in the Yellows' 84:86 victory over the Blancos.

Alex Tios in a Glatsray uniform, Photo: Alan Schieber

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