After many months of waiting and anticipation, Israeli basketball returned this evening (Monday) in full glory with the traditional season opening tournament, the Winner Cup, which was held for the 17th year in a row.
The opening game brought together the renewed and intriguing Hapoel Tel Aviv of Danny Franco for an intriguing battle at the Shlomo Group Hall, which beat newcomer Kiryat Ata 69:107.
For the Reds from Tel Aviv, the game was the first official test of tools for the project full of talent and expectations that was put together this summer on the red side of the city of Tel Aviv, the culmination of which was the much talked about return of Tomer Ginat to the ranks of his former team after two years in France.
The host arrived at the game knowing clearly that the burden of proof would rest on the team's shoulders starting from the first game of the season.
On the evening of the game, the Reds were informed that they will have to deal without the services of the team's forward James Young, who is suffering from a groin injury and will be absent for an extended period.
Bar Timur in action, tonight at the Drive In,
The red crowd at the drive-in, photo: Oded Karni
On the other hand, Sharon Abrahami's apprentices, who were promoted to the Premier League from the minor league at the end of last season, got their first taste of the big league, where they faced a significant test for them against the experienced Hapoel Tel Aviv, which enjoyed the support of its fans in the home hall.
The differences in levels and talent were already felt at the start when the Reds looked more connected and deeper, ran at every opportunity and rose to a promising double-digit lead of fourteen points already at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter started as the first quarter ended.
The Reds showed toughness in defense, ran for passing attacks and, pushing the crowd, showed a fluid game, with the gap jumping to 20 points already at the beginning of the second quarter.
Only one team, dressed in red, made it to the second half, which continued to dance on the floor and increased its advantage to 31 points, leaving the last quarter for protocol only.
Jacob Brown in action, tonight at the Drive In, photo: Oded Karni
Danny Franco, tonight at the Drive In, photo: Oded Karni
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
