Bnei Herzliya are very disappointed with the 82:76
loss yesterday (Thursday) to Maccabi Tel Aviv, which put them 1-0 behind in the playoff semifinal series.
The team from Sharon really wanted to 'steal' the first game in the series and then transfer all the pressure to the preferred opponent for the second game in the Jubilee Hall.
In the first half they played well, but disappeared completely in the second half, especially when it comes to shooting from outside the arc (3 from 22 to 3, 1 from 15 in the second half).
"How can you win with such a percentage. If we had scored the free throws everything would have looked different," the team said in frustration.
"We did not start the third quarter well," said coach Oren Aharoni.
"Our attack was stuck. We suffered a bad shooting evening from the outside that made it even harder for us, it led Maccabi to passing attacks, gave them to open a gap of 6-8 and it was difficult for us to come back."
Captain Yair Kravitz added: "We need to have more control over the defensive rebound and the pace of the game, not let them run, when they run they can open a gap of 15."
Despite this, Herzliya maintains a certain optimism.
"We had a bad day on offense and we still got to a close game with Maccabi and that is a good sign," say the club.
"We will learn the lessons ahead of the game on Sunday and come prepared to win."
2.
Two other things were at the center of the evening for Herzliya.
The first is the confrontation between Sean Dawson and Eldad Akunis in the break between the third and fourth quarters.
The veteran chairman remarked to the player about a mistake he made at the end of the quarter, and according to reports the player approached him threateningly and told him: “What are you getting up for, what are you yelling at me.
sit quietly".
"It's an emotional game and what happened between Akunis and Tongue was no exception," Aharoni tried to calm the spirits at the end.
This is a team life, we are in the semi-finals and there are emotions.
Need to put what happened behind and get clean for the next game.
"Sean is an important player for us and we need him."
Dawson vs. Sorkin.
Aharoni will not give it up, Photo: Alan Shiver
The
second thing is the decision of the professional team to list Quinton Hooker in place of DJ Cooper.
The injured quarterback in February has played just one game in all of the past three months.
Even before the series against Hapoel Haifa, the team was already debating whether to register Hooker, but in the end they decided that he would not keep up physically, so they continued with Cooper.
Before the series against Maccabi Tel Aviv, the considerations of Hooker's improved defensive game against Cooper had already come into play, as well as his shooting ability, which on paper is considered much better.
In the result test the decision did not pay off yesterday.
Hooker scored just 5 points in 34 minutes, including 1 of 5 from outside the arc.
It is possible that Chris Bab's weak game was also affected by the change in the identity of the back line member.
In fact, Yair Kravitz, who is better suited to play near Hooker than near Cooper, who only plays in position 1, flourished and stood out for long minutes on both sides of the field.
"The decision to register Hooker was not an easy one," Aharoni revealed.
"We looked at the matchups against Maccabi, and defensively we got better things than that. I do not think Quinton had a good game, but I would not blame the loss in this substitution. Maybe we would have had more offense, but we were less good defensively. It was a decision we made and I am whole. "With her. You can always look back and say what would have happened if. I hope he makes a better game on Sunday."
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