The seven bad years
After David Blatt won the Euroleague Cup in the 2014 season, seven bad years began at Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In 2015, Maccabi qualified under the cross for Guy Goodes, only to be defeated, but since then it has been desolate and desolate.
Poor professional management, wrong management decisions, uneven and unconnected faculty, and coaches who have not promoted the team.
It is true that it is worth remembering the positive shimmer under Sapropolos in the 2020 season, which was interrupted by hostility by the Corona, but this whole period was neighborhood and parked.
Therefore, it is not obvious that Maccabi Tel Aviv, after a season marked as finished, has achieved a place in the playoffs already two rounds to go.
And who brought her there?
Not Spahija, not Yannis, not tobacco, not Gatzkis.
Not even cedar or remy.
And forgive me the others who passed by.
Avi Even was called from the office to the field, as if just to fill space and time, and was found to be the missing squad for the talented staff, with a little help from Putin.
And these are not only the victories, but also the way and the performance.
Dunkies, outbursts, threes, all the players in their best shape this season, the crowd is in love back in the team.
The management is in serious trouble regarding a coach for next season.
Will we replace Avi Even and fall into the pit again?
And even the butler in anxieties.
Maccabi is already 0: 6 in white.
Dozens of yellow sets will be thrown in the trash?
Despite the white set, the yellow today is very yellow.
Tango frogs
The quality gap is not always immediately reflected in the difference.
Sometimes it takes half, sometimes more.
For Maccabi, it took quite a long time yesterday because Avi Even rolled and practiced unconventional fives, and also because Wheelerban is talented and aggressive.
Maccabi waited for the breaking moment and then stung and closed interest.
And it is not obvious that she has such a mental ability, that does not break and does not lose confidence even when the difference goes down.
It took Avi Even dozens of exchanges and a few time-outs to return to his talented first five, facing Wheelerban's physical and mental exhaustion, and officially picking up the ticket to the top eight.
Wheelerban is a tall and athletic team, and Maccabi traditionally has a hard time against elephants, but is also gradually learning it.
And even though her chances for the playoffs were already zero, she had something to play for - money.
Every place in the Euroleague puts a lot of money into the club.
Except for the latter, which is also not worth reaching in terms of the license.
The Parker family's project is interesting and produces players for the NBA, like Wombanyama, 220 inches of talent, with hands so long that when he snatched a ball from Evans the referees thought he took it with his foot.
But the loss of chances has a profound effect on motivation, and the evidence is 27 turnovers that actually sent Maccabi to bursts and decided the game.
A matrix of achievements
Part of the success stems from the fact that all the players are simply in better personal shape, in fact in the best shape this season.
Apparently Avi Even's training is not radically better than that of Yannis, even though his original role is the players' personal trainer.
So what lifts them up?
First of all the success of the team: the atmosphere, the victories, the clear method and the orderly hierarchy, the running game.
There are a lot more attacks so there are more opportunities to stand out and score, which is fun to deliver, and even enjoy saving.
And so the players improve the team, but the team also raises the players to the next level.
Evans is getting better thanks to the running game.
In a slow and orderly game his talent and athleticism are lost, and then he also enters the shadow of Wilbkin.
The urge to snatch and challenge each pass resulted in three steals and another forced ball loss, from which came the highlight of the game - Halle-Hop to Scottish.
Ante Žižić returned to himself, although he never left.
He is as mobile and fast as Reynolds, and finishes bursts and mostly plays beyond perfectly.
He actually has a hard time defending against fast players and athletes, and there Reynolds is better than him.
But they complement each other and give confidence under the basket.
And encouraged said Derrick Williams.
And this time I agree, because its impact on the game was crucial.
In the first half Jake Cohen contributed much more offensive ability, with dedication, diagonal cuts, assisting on defense and sacrificing offenses, while Williams stood stuck in the corner waiting for the ball.
But Avi Even seemed to explain to him what the role was, and the great escape came much to his credit, when he pulled Wombanyama out and handed Zizic in several times in a row.
Only 5 points but a big and important contribution.
And James Nanali becomes Maccabi's barometer.
When he is good, Maccabi is good and will usually win.
Since the family here is also much more present, it is clear that the new method of play suits him like a glove.
Exchange train
Throughout the season, the lottery helped Maccabi.
And in the current sequence, Maccabi is facing teams that are not fighting for a place, and that helps it and its coach learn about itself, its limitations and its strengths.
And so Avi Even can continue in the quintet trials, risking a lag or losing an advantage, but with the assurance that the right quintet is within one spare distance.
So as usual the most talented quintet went up and fell behind, and by the half everyone was playing except Sorkin.
A real exchange at the college group level, with everyone coming in and contributing.
The power of the method is that everyone understands it and the game does not change.
But it is still important to maintain a reasonable structure: there should be three scorers on the field at all times.
And need at least one or two sub-players to give the extra pass and the Paul who was to give.
For example, a quintet with Yiftach Ziv, Nanali, Kyrie Thomas, Reynolds, and Jake Cohen was a bit excessive, and led to a triple substitution.
No need to get there.
Cloiaro and John-Dee are the balance and stabilizers of the boat.
Cloiaro came in equal, John Di in minus 2. Finished 5 at the break and from there Maccabi did not blink.
Facing other teams it will be more difficult to fix the lineups.
Stone seems to be learning and understanding his rotation, which is especially important as part of a playoff series without homeliness.
Playoff preparation workshop.
Thoughts ahead of the playoffs
Maccabi should not be afraid of any team, maybe except Barcelona, so the next game in Barcelona can be very important to get confidence in an away game, because in any case Maccabi will have to beat a senior team away, at least once.
The personal improvement lifted the team.
Now it remains to improve the team defense, and the standing game, to make the rotation more precise, to organize the top five to be healthier, and to leave Scotty Wilbkin exactly where he is.
Committed, not dribbling, guarding and submitting, scoring around the 15th.
Optimal for optimism.
And after Maccabi defeated Real, and also in Ouaka, and Real lost there as well - even the Blancos are no longer really threatening.
One should remain modest, but one is allowed to dream high.
And suddenly there is a smell of 2014. Seven good years in the doorway?
We'll go through the two months, and then see, in the spring, in the spring.
Were we wrong?
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