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relegation of Maccabi Rishon LeZion to the national basketball league is not a relegation of another team. This is a team that has been in the Premier League for the past 34 years. This club is one of the largest in the country and was in the second row after Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Holon.
A club with a glorious tradition, great achievements, wonderful Israeli players, some of the best foreigners who have played here, and leading coaches.
A club that has been strong in recent years in the peak events of Israeli basketball.
Championship in 2016 and 4 finals (league and cup) in recent years.
With all this baggage, the team has reached the current season, which has greatly damaged its reputation, because it has to go down - and it has to go down.
Maccabi Rishon Lezion was not relegated from the Premier League with its head held high. It would have been relegated for many weeks before it was officially determined, and its balance was 20 percent success. It is down beaten and bruised, after a season that does not add respect to the club.
Even in recent times, when everything had to be given more and more, we have not seen a tough and aggressive group that is really aware of its situation.
We saw a group devoid of heart and soul.
There was not even anyone there to shed a tear.
This happens a lot because over the course of the season it has become a team with no identity and almost no local players.
Before she lost her place in the league, she lost her way.
During the season she sold the great talent Noam Dover so she could financially move on to play with five strangers.
A move that is more symbolic regarding the loss of the road.
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It was a season where she did not miss any mistake, managerial and professional.
Bad construction in the summer and futile and unwise attempts to repair on the way.
Of the squad that played in the opening game of the season, there were only two players in the relegation game yesterday.
Rishon LeZion of the season was a train station of players. When it tried to be rebuilt - it spoiled even more when the staff was unbalanced, lacking leading players and fighters to suit bottom struggles.
Chairman Yitzhak Perry, who promoted it to the first division more than three decades ago and brought it to the forefront, was not there when it came down. He retired during the season. Who built it in the summer, but it must also be said: The long, ongoing and ugly parting saga of the team from the coach did not add respect to the club and also hurt him professionally. While the coach was back on track, the club continued to sink.
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The present is on the face, but the future does not look so bad.
The decline will not collapse the club, perhaps quite the opposite.
Rishon LeZion has the tools to come back, and maybe even take advantage of the shock to rebuild for a better future. The team is financially well-organized, thanks to the municipal support. It will probably have the highest budget in the national league. She has a young player from home - Tal Peled - who has been playing for the senior team for two years, and could be a key part of the club's future construction.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
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