Jumping over a mine game
Maccabi Tel Aviv came to a mine game and passed it with complete success.
It is very difficult to play against a team that has nothing to lose, and is still talented, and has the pride and history of a great club.
It is also impossible to play quality basketball against a messy team without a coordinator who plays a combination of dice and charges from three.
You just have to win and move on.
And for Maccabi, it was mainly a test of continuity: if you manage to win outside as well, without the tens of thousands of fans pushing into Elijah's hand?
Will the new way of running at every opportunity, threes on every available look, daring and kidnapping, also succeed in an alienated and unfamiliar environment?
Will Scotty Wilbkin contribute to the victory through the team game?
Will Avi Even continue to abide by the rules he has built in the last month?
Index increases
The answer to all the questions was yes, and the method culminated in the perfect second quarter offensively, which ended in a 32:20 result.
Exactly the difference at the end of the game.
Leading Indices: 28 assists on 8 turnovers only.
Victory on the rebound.
Seven players who scored 9 points or more in excellent distribution.
11 threes at 40%.
And especially 27 baskets of two points that came mostly under the basket, in bursting attacks, passing attacks, and inward dedication to the highs.
And for dessert: nine assists by Scotty Wilbkin, who knew how to contribute even when he did not score in double digits.
Maccabi ran and enjoyed fast and team basketball that flirted with 100 points in an away game.
When was the last time you saw something like this?
Which was to prove.
Scotty Wilbkin, Photo: EPA
The Method House
Avi Even continued to believe in his team and his method, even when it looked bad, and participated in Pau's dice game.
And this is not self-evident and an important part of introducing the new method to the feet, hands, and minds of the players.
We run in any situation.
We throw a three when there is a free look, even after 7 seconds.
Because we all understand that this is the method, we all go down to the defense and do not make faces.
For moments it seemed that the players on defense were just expecting there to be a shot to the basket so they could run forward.
The price of a mistake in defense goes down because it is possible to return basket upon basket immediately.
And even when Nanali gasped in the fourth quarter in supposedly irresponsible shelling, it still serves to introduce the method into the bloodstream.
Once it becomes natural, it will be possible to manage it a little better.
But right now, everything serves the method.
The Chamber Quintet
One of the most influential factors in Maccabi's ability is the structure of the quintet.
Avi Even's Maccabi comes up with the same five in every game opener: Evans, Wilbkin, Nanley, Williams, Zizic.
Repetition on a fixed quintet is correct and produces structures, permanence, hierarchy, rotation.
On the other hand, I have already written here that in my opinion this is the least effective quintet, precisely because it is the most talented.
Zizic finds the ring, Photo: Elad Goldstein, Maccabi Tel Aviv Official Instagram Page
There is not a single black worker who will do the extra in defense and offense, and give up the ball.
Her ego is the most, and ego clashes with a pure group method.
And yet, the method is very helpful to this quintet as well, lowering the ego, and since they run a lot, everyone on the bench knows they will play and take part.
And yet, the top five are those with one or two players from the energy and backup team: Yiftach Ziv, Caluiaro, John Dee.
Reynolds belongs to the first group, and Sorkin, Blazer and Jake Cohen to the drying Israelis group.
Avi Even continues to improve but still brings up weird and inappropriate compositions in this regard, even beyond the top five.
For example, Yiftach Ziv came in instead of Nanley, with Scotty and Evans.
Unnecessary.
Also in the opening of the fourth quarter with Yiftach Ziv, John Dee and Caliroo together.
Excessive on the other side, but neutralized quickly, and so in the fourth quarter when the difference went down, Stone returned the scenes and closed the story.
Soon he will already be smart and will not get into situations from which he came out cleverly.
And most importantly: the method is more powerful than any vehicle.
The core is to run at every opportunity and throw free threes.
Even when it looked bad in the third quarter.
Maccabi will win or fall for that.
If you persevere, and at the same time the players believe in the offensive method, the defense will stabilize and the victories will pile up.
Nanley, Photo: EPA
small gifts
The method also needs treats and additions, and it has received them from various and interesting sources.
After Pau's first timeout, Maccabi came back with pressure on the whole field, a steal and a dunk.
At the end of the half she got a three from three quarters of a yard from Yiftach Ziv, but it was not Fox, it was an accurate shot that he was training on.
A side-out drill fed Reynolds to a quick basket and a trash talk against Papayanis.
In the 18th minute, even Passing Game was revealed at Maccabi.
And when Pao moved to the area, Caliro (who if not he?) Moved diagonally and fed Reynolds another dunk that brought Pao back in person after a single attack.
And it's okay to add John Di's polo at the end of the first half, and his assist back to Evans in a burst to a dunk that set a record difference.
Personal concession to generate momentum and baskets of determination.
It's Israeli basketball that is starting to mention the days of Ralph, Pini and David.
Let's not just be tall, strong and accurate.
Let's be the bastards.
Let's take the extra too.
And one of the great luxuries that Maccabi has, is that its two tall ones run like young foals for bursts.
Both Žižić and Reynolds finished many outbursts in playoffs and dunks, sometimes even after a basket.
Thanks to their athleticism, and thanks to the throwing of the threes that caused a lot of rebounds far from the color that fell into the hands of the guards.
So the highs ran, the guards released quickly, and the result was refreshing.
And the prize: Maccabi is confident in the cross, confident in its ability, and confident in its coach.
We were like dreamers.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
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