Ahrela Weisberg

Behind the Scenes

Fire Stone: Avi Even uses every moment of the gift he received

Real Madrid was stopped on 0 of 12 in the crucial six minutes, and Maccabi Tel Aviv once again made the top team look seven, heavy and tired.

The coach erased the fixation from the days of Sapropolos, challenged Lasso and managed to convey a message to his players: This season can also determine their own future

Ahrela Weisberg

25/03/2022

Friday, March 25, 2022, 10:30 p.m.

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Comments of Maccabi Tel Aviv after the 74:75 victory over Real Madrid (Maccabi Tel Aviv, official Instagram page)

1. Someone threw a stone at her

0 of 12 from the field.

Zero twelve.

This is what Real Madrid managed to yield last night (Thursday) in the last 5:41 minutes.

Yes, 0 out of 12.

Just as she escaped to 65:74 and returned to her peak advantage, she suffocated, suffocated, disappeared, disappeared and faded into the gray clouds that covered the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood at night.

And it did not just happen to her.

Someone threw a stone at her.

With four minutes and 16 seconds left on the clock, Avi Even decided to get out of the box (not for the first time, by the way), and make one last attempt - some would say a desperate attempt - to break the equation, break the stalemate and save the game.

In the face of the built-in and understandable inferiority against the Twin Towers and Hansen Poirier Wadi Tavares, the Maccabi Tel Aviv coach gave up the chin position, when he took out Jaylen Reynolds and replaced him with Angelo Cloiaro.

In fact, he placed Derek Williams (2.03) at the pivot position, ten inches lower than his French opponent.

And Pablo Lasso?

He just went out of balance.

Alongside Cloiaro, another player, Keenan Evans by name, came on the field, replacing John Dibertolomao.

It took the Spanish coach a minute and a quarter to identify the destructive potential that the Israeli minor ball could cause him, so he moved Gershon Yavosla to position number 5;

Just another minute passed, and he returned Tavares;

Another minute and a quarter later he took it down;

And ten seconds later he put it back inside.

But what he did not do - did not help.

0 of 12 from the field, as stated.

Real failed to buy a basket in almost six minutes, and at the same time Maccabi ran to 0:10, even though they only got six shots from the field.

Evans scored six points, and that was just enough to work the miracle.

74:75, on the tip of a dot, as in the book.

The huge roar with the buzzer sounded like celebrations of a winning goal in the 90th minute.

More on Walla!

Avi Even: "If this continues, we could be considered a legitimate playoff team"

To the full article

The upheaval of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the closing moments (Photo: Danny Maron)

Search Google for 2016 and 2017, and take care of yourself

It was a great evening of basketball, even if not an evening of great basketball.

During the first half, the leading identity was changed no less than 16 times, and nine draws were recorded (excluding 0: 0);

Yavosla scored 14 points in the first eight minutes, and by the end added just 0 of 5 from the field;

And James Nanley composed a fourth straight game in double figures, for the first time since the five-game winning streak from five months ago.

This week, at the press conference where Udi Recanati came to light, he honestly admitted that one of the considerations in appointing Stone as Yannis Sapropoulos' replacement (thus actually "throwing" the current season, to get to next season without a legal commitment to another coach) was to "put in the locker room who That will cause the least damage. "

Then came the war in Ukraine.

And three groups were deleted from the table.

And Maccabi Tel Aviv lost three losses, so instead of jumping three steps, it jumped five places.

It does not make her season good or successful, nor does it clear the decision makers of the mistakes they have made.

But at least for now, it has instilled in this club a spirit that has almost been forgotten.

The roar that was heard with the buzzer reminded me of a winning goal in the 90th minute.

Reynolds celebrates with the fans (Photo: Danny Maron)

How important and significant this spirit is, the last 48 hours have proven.

One by one, two teams arrived in Tel Aviv that have been on the happy side of the table since the beginning of the season, and did not need gifts to get to the top.

Both are deep, successful and experienced, and not only are they ranked 3-2, but both also look satiated, heavy and tired at this point in the season.

Previously it was Olympia Milano, led by Sergio Rodriguez (35), Kyle Haynes (35) and Gigi Datoma (34);

And yesterday came the turn of Real, who are still too dependent on Brody Fernandez (37), Sergio Yui (34) and Adam Hanga (33).

In the face of this satiety, Even succeeds in a task that until a month ago seemed impossible: to turn the collection of players in yellow (in white! Sorry! In white!) Into a bunch of basketball players who really enjoy playing together.

Without making shocks to the staff, without denying the imbalance and mismatch between some of its components, and also without hiding the problematic nature of some of the key players - the scout came, wore a suit and made a difference.

This change is not only due to the removal of Nanley, Jaylen Reynolds and Ziv from the freezer, and not just the less missionary lineups the new coach dares to try.

Sometimes it seems as if Even himself conveyed to his players - literally or not - that from now on there is no coach with broad shoulders on the lines, so they now go up to the pitch without a scapegoat. The downturn of 2016 and 2017, and they are welcome to google where the players' careers have evolved from those days, so the players, under the auspices of the gift that landed on them in tragic circumstances, decided theirs would not happen.

True, these are just clothes colors.

But who can argue with the results? (Photo: Image Processing, Ahrela Weisberg)

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3. Who are the real Blancos?

Leaving the hall, I casually heard a short and interesting comment from one of the fans: "Yannis would have lost this game by a double-digit margin."

And even if it is not possible to determine with certainty that he was right, it is difficult to prove his mistake.

Would Sapropolos have come out of the stunt, given up on Ante Žižić and Reynolds, and put Williams in front of Poirier / Tavares?

Would Sapropolos have put up a defensive back line in the form of Evans, Yiftach Ziv and Kyrie Thomas to put pressure on the opposing guards?

Would Sapropolus have dared to bench for long minutes, especially at key times, the Scottish "On whom we shall live or die" Wilbkin?

The answers to these three questions, as history has shown, are: no, no and no.

The double victory in the double round takes the Israeli champion to the shore (Menora) Mivtachim, and almost hermetically (even if not yet mathematically) closes her place in the playoffs.

And perhaps, superstitious fans are convinced, all thanks to the white uniform set, with which Maccabi Tel Aviv stands on a perfect balance of 0: 5 - while in yellow it is 10: 8 negative and in blue 4: 1.

So who are the real Blancos here?

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Tags

• Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball

• Avi Even

• Real Madrid in basketball