Wickside: A weekly column by Ahrela Weisberg

Joe Ragland: "You took the pressure off me."

Tyros Maggie: "You're the best coordinator I've played with"

They have known each other since they were young ("when we were against each other we said 'let him score 30'"), enjoy the common blossom ("always go with the hot man, and no one bothers") and adore Guy Pnini (but do not understand what they sing to him In the stands).

Kochavi Hapoel Holon in a couple interview

Ahrela Weisberg

06/05/2022

Friday, May 6, 2022, 10:00 p.m.

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Interview with Hapoel Holon, Tyros Maggie and Joe Ragland (Photo: Niv Aharonson Video Editing: Dina Mahfutz)

It is doubtful if there is a Hapoel Holon fan whose heart was not filled with excitement when Tyros Maggie agreed to return to the team, about three months ago.

But there seems to be at least one who was supposed to be stressed out by the surprising situation.

"When last season ended for me, because I was injured, there was a fan who wrote to me: 'I love you so much, I want you to come back here next season, I will give you my girlfriend, I will give you my sister' ... I did not answer him, but I laughed "That's the craziest thing I're ever heard."

"I can not do that, I'm a married man," laughs Maggie.

And there was another one who was supposed to be stressed out from the comeback.

He sits next to him in the interview stand, and never stops laughing with him;

Shares the back line with him, and never stops enjoying the combination between them on the field.

This is Joe Ragland, who was disappointed at the start of the season and there were even rumors and rumors about his possible release.

But since then everything has turned upside down, and tonight (Friday, 19:00) the two will lead Holon to a historic performance in the Champions League semi-final, against Tenerife.

"I never thought of that in my life," Ragland swore.

"I've been playing for ten years, I was at the highest levels, I know what I bring to the pitch. So it did not even cross my mind. His arrival took pressure off me, but mostly helped the team connect. Until he came, we were not consistent as a team, and because I'm the coordinator "So it stood out more to me. We did not have good chemistry, they fired the coach. It hurt us all, and me too. Together with him, everyone played better, and everything started to flow."

More on Walla!

At 38: Guy Pnini is still the youngest captain in the Final Four

To the full article

"If Tyrus is good, I have to take care of him. I can score 25, but it will not make the others happy."

Ragland with Maggie (Photo: Official Website, Champions League)

Maggie: "Joe is probably the best quarterback I have played alongside, with the highest game intelligence. He understands the game. After the game, before him, and sometimes even at halftime, he has already entered the synergy, checking stats and planning what to do against this player "And that opponent. He makes everything easier. As a coordinator, all eyes were on him. And as soon as I came, I took some of the attention from him, and we merged together."

Ragland: "We need to give credit to Adam Smith as well. Once we've started flowing as a team, look at what we'll become of him. Everything works more smoothly, and that's a team matter."

Maggie: "We have a special team. Every night a different player can stand out and excel, and sometimes it happens to two players at the same time. When we recognize that someone is hot, we go with him and no one has a problem with it. It's a team without ego, and no one thinks for themselves. "Everyone understands that if Joe is good, we will go with him. And if he is a good person, we will make sure he gets the ball. It comes with experience."

Ragland: "As a coordinator, I have to choose the days when I take the game on me. Because if Tyrus is good, I have to take care of him. My job is to control the game. I can score 25 points, but it will not help the team, nor will it make the players next to me happy. "And it would not make them run faster for bursts. I learned that late in my career. At first, when we were playing against each other, I would just throw, right?".

Maggie: "Yeah, we would say in the team 'let him score 30 points'".

"He's the grandfather of us all. I have no idea what's being sung to him, but it must be honorable."

Guy Pnini (Photo: Udi Citation)

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Ragland (32) is a year and a half older than Maggie (31), and this season they are playing together for the first time, although their acquaintance is long and deep.

“When we were 20 and 21, Joe was playing at Wichita State, I was in Community College and they recruited me,” Maggie recalls.

"When I got there, he became my mentor and we hung out a lot together. Then we both went out to Europe, and played quite a few times against each other."

Ragland: "A few years ago, in Italy, we even got to be in front of each other something like ten times in one season."

Maggie: "No, no. But we kept each other. It's fun to play against someone you know for a long time."

Ragland: "We've gotten used to it."

Maggie: "In the summer I played for his university in the TBT League, and he came to watch me, so we were together."

Ragland: "

I did not play, because I have to keep my body.

I'm not as young as he is. "

Maggie: "Then Joe told me he was moving from Hapoel Eilat to Holon. I told him he would enjoy it, and I thought it would be great if we got a chance to play together. And here, it happened."

Ragland: "We talked during the season, when he played for San Pablo Burgos, and we talked about his team and our team, and things just happened. For me, it just added a dimension of excitement. In the summer there was someone who said to us' You, you two, you have to play here together! '".

Maggie: "In the summer he came to watch me play."

Ragland: "I did not play, because I have to take care of my body. I'm not as young as him" (Photo: Udi Citation)

About 1,000 fans will accompany Holon to Bilbao, and they hope to be in the final on Sunday as well.

Ragland and Maggie admit that they hear the encouragement well from the stands, although it turns out that they do not understand all the meanings of the words, especially from the rival audiences.

Maggie: "'Oh ha', I do not remember how it goes" ...

Ragland: "I like singing to Guy Pnini, who encourages and respects him, he is a veteran."

Maggie: "He's 38, he's the grandfather of everyone on the team. But he gets respect from audiences of other teams as well, even if they whistle at him."

Ragland: "Sure."

Maggie: "Obviously."

Maggie: "I have no idea, but I know it has to be something respectable, because he is respected wherever he goes. You can love or hate him,

Ragland: "I bet two more years."

Maggie: "Yes, until the age of 40."

Ragland: "I did not talk to him about it, I'm just guessing. He can also play another five years with his style, because he plays with his head. He does not need athleticism."

Steve Zack the funniest, and who's the silent killer?

Adam Smith (Photo: Official Website, FIBA ​​Official Website)

Last season, Maggie and Holon were eliminated in the quarterfinals by San Pablo Burgos, to which he moved in the summer;

Tenerife defeated Hapoel Jerusalem in the Final Eight a year and a half ago, and in light of the sweep that Maccabi Tel Aviv suffered from Real Madrid last week in the Euroleague - it is difficult to ignore the difficulty that the Spanish teams pile on the Israelis.

The two are intimately acquainted with the ACB League and are trying to analyze the reason.

"The teams from Spain are tough," Maggie says.

"They always get to the Final Four and the Final Eight in the Champions League, they are tactical teams that never stop moving the ball. Everyone knows his place, knows how much he will play and when, and when he comes in he gives everything he has."

Maggie chose the number 25 jersey because of his mother, and Regland has a special connection to the number 1 he wears.

"I've loved basketball since I was 4 or 5, and I remember Penny Hardway as my favorite player at that age. That's why I chose his jersey. Then came Alan Iverson, who to me is a source of inspiration, the striker of the low guards like me, and I even wore the number 3 "For one season, but I have to admit it feels like disrespect and disrespect to wear his jersey. There are jerseys that just need to be set aside and completely taken out of use."

Maggie: "Yeah, like 23."

The two crown Steve Steve Zack as the funniest player on the team, calling Smith "our silent killer."

From the questions about the worst dresser ("We haven't been to the place where we really needed to get dressed yet," Maggie claims) and about who showers the longest ("I don't check on anyone, just do what I need to go," laughs Ragland).

Maggie: "No, no, we haven't tried to compete with him yet."

Ragland: "I'm still waiting to see him throw the ball."

Maggie: "He touches a little" ...

Ragland: "Sometimes I like to give it to him, to see how he feels and I see that he has good access to the ball."

Maggie: "He was a good guard too, wasn't he? Okay, we'll do our research."

Ragland: "Need to check it out."

"On Monday we will land in Israel and celebrate with the fans! That's why we travel."

Tyros Maggie and Joe Ragland (Photo: Udi Quote)

- What's the first thing you look for on the statistics page after a game?

Maggie: "Lost Ball."

Ragland: "I always say - show me nothing, just the losses and rebounds, and I'll tell you who won the game."

Ragland: "You have to imagine it" ...

Maggie: "... but you must not think beyond the next game. We have to concentrate on the semi-finals. Last year we reached the Final Eight, and now the Final Four, and we have to keep moving forward."

Both: "We'll celebrate with the fans! That's why we travel."

• sport

• basketball

• Euroleague and European basketball

Tags

• Hapoel Holon

• Joe Ragland

• Tyros Maggie