Pnini fulfills the dream that Mickey did not realize
The forward returns at the age of 39 to Maccabi Tel Aviv, as Berkowitz wanted (but did not win) and in a situation similar to the one that only Doron Jamchi was in.
Who are the legends who returned to end their careers in yellow, how is David Blatt related to all the comebacks - and what surprising statistic do they have in common?
A history lesson
Ahrela Weisberg
23/06/2022
Thursday, 23 June 2022, 19:54
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"Doron, there is a question I always wanted to ask you, and I ask that you answer me honestly," Mickey Berkowitz surprised me in the sulha interview I had with him and Doron Jamchi, a decade ago in "Israel Today."
"What happened when I wanted to return to the retirement season at Maccabi Tel Aviv?"
"I'm glad you brought up this issue ..." Jamchi replied.
Berkowitz continued: "I saw the festival that was in the NBA, when Karim Abdul Jabbar retired from the Lakers, and I wanted something similar. I turned to Maccabi and offered to come for a year of retirement. I did not ask for money, I just wanted to get three or four minutes in every league game. I had an agreement, but the late Moni Fanan, who was the team manager at the time, told me: 'Talk to Doron.' "
Jamchi:" If you remember, we really sat in my house in Givatayim.
I said I would even let you be the captain in my place. "
Berkowitz:" True,
Jamchi: "I will not lie, I was worried and we also talked about it at the time, but not because it fell. It was convenient to drain everything to me because of the rivalry between us. So let me explain to you. The late Ralph Klein was then the professional manager And Molly Katzourin coached.
That was exactly when we returned the championship for the first time, after the loss to the Upper Galilee.
Molly feared that the stability and balance in the team would be violated, and yes, I also had a fear that we would reach a decisive game, the result would be close and the crowd would start shouting 'Mickey, Mickey'.
It was clear that you too would want to get into such a situation, we know you. "
Berkowitz:" True, true.
You know what?
Today, looking back, I realize you were right in your concern.
After all, even now, when I'm 58, I just want to get on the field when the crucial minutes come in a close game. "
Jamchi:" If only it were possible to turn the wheel back, and the way I see things my age, I'm sorry about that.
You should have come back, you deserved it.
So MM Yof KoF Yod did not get to return for the yellow season, and Jamchi is the only one who actually got this opportunity in 1999, when he was already 38. Now it's Guy Pnini's turn: the forward will celebrate His 39th birthday before the start of the season, and although this time too the phrase "retirement season" was not mentioned in the announcement of his return, the direction is quite clear.
Here is the parade of symbols and stars that gathered near Elijah before they retired - each in his own circumstances, each at his own age and each with his own connection to one man who was in the system in all cases, and is still there today.
All the comebacks before him have at least reached the Euroleague final.
Guy Pnini (Photo: Official Website, Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Doron Jamchi (1999)
History:
The all-time king of the Premier League baskets vacated his place at Maccabi Tel Aviv in the summer of 1996, when he was 36. He and Moti Daniel left, leaving the keys to the Ketchup duo and new nationals Derrick Sharp, Burko Radovic and Titi Popa.
After two and a half years at Maccabi Rishon Lezion, which ended in jarring tones and tears, he returned to season 12 in the No. 12 jersey at the arena.
The role of David Blatt:
Assistant new coach, in his first season at the club.
Circumstances:
Pini Gershon and Blatt felt they needed a replacement Israeli guard who would deepen the shooting from outside behind Ariel McDonald, Sharp and Doron Sheffer.
Radovic recovered from a serious injury, and Mark Brisker arrived on a betting standard from Maccabi Raanana.
Jamchi was chosen during a course that stunned the basketball community in the country.
He did not return to the role of captain, which was left in the hands of Nadav Hanfeld.
Professional status:
Jamchi's debut, at 38, was even more amazing.
Although Maccabi lost to Olympiacos 65:63, he was passionate with six threes from seven attempts and scored 18 points.
It was his highlight game, which did not bode well for the future to come.
In practice, he was a marginal player in rotation with an average of 4.7 points per night in the FIBA Euroleague and 6.4 points in the league.
European achievement:
Jamchi returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv after eight seasons in which the team failed to qualify for the European Final Four, just like now With Pnini. Together with him she returned to the top class
.
At the end of the season, the Yellows celebrated winning a seventh consecutive championship on the floor at the Travest Hall in Raanana.
Jamchi wanted to continue playing, but was not in Gershon and Blatt's plans - and retired.
He joined the club's management, left and returned, and currently serves as VP of Marketing and Community Relations.
Opened the season with a storm with six threes in Athens, but was pushed to the edge of the rotation.
Doron Jamchi (Photo: Reuters)
Radisev Churchev (2000)
History:
In 1994, Maccabi Tel Aviv landed the first ex-Yugoslav alien in its history, a fat-meat center named Radisev Chorcic, who goes by the nickname Chura.
At the end of two years devoid of significant achievement in the European Cup, he was replaced by Randy White and became a muscular and massive monster.
In 1998 and 1999 he starred in Hapoel Jerusalem, and then the "pizza affair" exploded, after a messenger testified that he saw him at the home of the late Moni Fanan, shortly before the playoff finals.
David Blatt's role:
assistant coach at the beginning and head coach at the end.
Circumstances:
It is important to clarify that apart from his advanced age and the fact that he retired in yellow, there is no resemblance between the situation of Chorcic and those of Jamchi and Pnini.
In practice, he did not return to Maccabi after leaving Jerusalem (because of the explosion of the affair?), But only a year later.
One of the reasons for Pao's loss in the 2000 final was the lack of a worthy replacement center for Nate Huffman;
When he got involved in fouls and was bounced, Poppa took his place and the Greens immediately erased all the advantage that Maccabi had created for itself.
Chura, who starred in the Fenerbahce uniform in the Sporta Cup, repeated the Bosman standard - and a year later became an Israeli.
Professional status:
Churchich was a more legitimate substitute center, and in the 2000/01 season scored 7.1 points in 15.3 minutes per game in the Super League.
The following season, when Blatt became coach, Maccabi Center already had a replacement named Hussein in the market, and number 13 was pushed to the edge of the bench.
He is a partner in just six Euroleague games, scoring four points in ten minutes.
European achievement:
Chura's two comeback seasons ended at the top.
In the first, Maccabi won the Super League, and lifted the trophy after 20 years in form, and in the second, it was stopped only in the Final Four.
The day after:
He too, like Jamchi, retired after his second term in yellow.
He returned to live in Serbia and resigned from official positions in basketball.
He left as a foreigner, returned as a Bosman and retired as an Israeli.
Radisev Chorcic wins the 2001 State Cup with Nadav Hanfeld (Photo: Government Press Office, Avi Ohayon)
Tal Burstein (2010)
History:
Only three Israelis won three European Cups with Maccabi Tel Aviv - Sharp, Gur Shelef and the senior of them all was Tal Burstein, who served as a five-man player in the two dynasties and is considered the glue that connected the stars that characterized each of them.
Already at the age of 29, after nine seasons in the yellow, he was ejected from the team, mainly due to an Achilles tendon rupture that disabled him for a year and that he had difficulty recovering from.
The role of David Blatt:
Coach.
Circumstances:
When Blatt returned to Gershon in the summer of 2010, after losing the championship to Gilboa / Galil, he tried to reconnect an Israeli band.
Lior Eliyahu was brought back from Basconia, and Burstein came back at the age of 30 after a good season at Fuenlabrada (9.3 points in the Spanish league).
He signed for three years and no one treated him as someone facing retirement, but despite his young age, it was clear that most of his contribution would be leadership and symbolism - from the language of a symbol - and that his professional status would not be the same as before.
Professional status:
Burstein managed to play for another two years (without the No. 10 jersey, which has meanwhile been seized by Pnini), and contributed only 3.5 points per game in the Euroleague.
At the end of one season he received the prestigious appointment as team captain, replacing Sharp, but at the end of the 2011/12 season he was injured again, suffered a torn hip and was forced to retire.
European achievement:
Like Jamchi, Burstein returned with Maccabi to the Euroleague final in the comeback season.
Like him, he also lost to Panathinaikos, but in the last eight games of the season he did not score a point (although he got 71 minutes in them).
The day after:
Burstein went to a coaching course after his retirement, and even returned to Maccabi as Nevan Spahija's assistant in the 2017/18 season.
A year later he left, and has not been officially associated with the industry since.
He is currently involved in real estate.
When he returned, the No. 10 jersey was seized by one named Pnini.
Tal Burstein (Photo: Kobi Eliyahu)
David Blue (2013)
History:
One of the greatest winners in the history of Maccabi Tel Aviv was brought to it as an anonymous citizen named David Bluthenthal in the summer of 2002, a year after he was spotted at Maccabiah.
He was a marginal bench player for almost two years, until rising to the Money Time that led to winning the Euroleague in 2004 (with 3.5 points in the first 13 games of the season, and 14.7 in the last four);
In 2007/08 he returned and reached the finals with the Yellows;
In 2009/10 he came back for a third term, during which the team reached another final (and he changed his name to Excise);
And in 2013 he returned from retirement to give the team depth in the Israeli staff in general and in the forward position in particular.
The role of David Blatt:
The coach who brought him in in the first place, is also the coach who brought him back to his final season for sure.
Circumstances:
After failing to launch a career as a personal manager of NBA players, Blue announced his return to the game.
A few weeks later, he signed a ten-day contract with Maccabi, which quickly became a contract for an entire season.
And what a season it was.
Professional status:
Blue scored 10.1 points per game in the Euroleague (his record high in seven seasons in yellow), passionate with seven threes and 29 points in 67 minutes during the Final Four, and at the age of 33 was the leading power forward in Maccabi Tel Aviv's season of miracles.
European achievement:
After the first miracle of Milan, the second miracle of Milan and the extra time in the final, Maccabi has won its only Euroleague Cup in the last 16 years.
The day after:
Next to the dictionary definition of the term "retire at the peak" is a picture of Blue, who hung up his shoes definitively and completely after that season.
He returned to the United States, and his name was even mentioned as a candidate to become Blatt's assistant to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was not appointed. He later served as a basketball commentator, and now works in banking.
David Blue retires at the peak, David Blatt marks V for a fifth comeback at Maccabi Tel Aviv (Photo: Yossi Tzipkis)
Guy Pnini (2022)
History:
Pnini grew up in Maccabi Tel Aviv, but only reached the senior team at the age of 26, after seven seasons in the Premier League.
Jerusalem fans will never forgive him for signing in the ranks of their sworn rival while still wearing red, and he finally landed in Elijah's hand after a year of "exile" in Zeleznik and Kravnos.
He wore yellow for eight seasons, and lifted the Euroleague trophy as captain, but was among those who paid the price in the summer of 2017 revolution, in which the entire staff (except for Itai Segev) was replaced.
The role of David Blatt:
Chairman of the Professional Committee.
Circumstances:
In retrospect, the return of Pnini serves as a sort of mistaken admission of his early release, especially when it comes to leadership. 'Failed to realize - and while he is still a player of the Israeli national team.
Professional status:
Number 10 repeats next to Elijah on a player standard who will also be a kind of assistant coach.
It can be estimated with caution that he will see most of his minutes in the league and not in the Euroleague, but Katsch is counting on him to shine from his experience, help the (many) new players who will land in the hall this summer understand where they are, and help reconnect the club with his fans.
European achievement:
The previous four comebacks ended at least in the final.
Is this a sign of things to come?
The day after:
"Before bed I imagine myself a coach," Pnini told Walla!
Sports before the start of last season.
In his contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, there is no promise of a position after retirement, but it is not impossible that he will join the professional team - and if not, he will stand on the lines in another team.
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Guy Pnini
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Doron Jamchi
