The bibists

Before signing with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Wade Baldwin called Lorenzo Brown and "asked for his hand".

The fate of the team will depend on the combination that the guards will create.

Oded Ketesh will have to free himself from fixations, give freedom to the instinctive coordinator and memorize the sentence that was once said about him: No Possibil Win Wideout De Lorenzo

Ehrle Weisberg

04/10/2022

Tuesday, October 4, 2022, 3:00 p.m

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share by email

• Share in general

• Comments

  Comments

1. Closing the circle of David Blatt

David Blatt is responsible for bringing quite a few stars to Europe for more than two decades.

The last of them was Wade Baldwin.

In 2019, he landed him and Kevin Panter at Olympiakos, but only managed to coach the two once before he had to part with the lines due to his health condition.

This year, when he returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv as the chairman of the professional committee, he closed a circle.

At the first working meeting of Blatt and Oded Ketch, alongside their new/old partners, they came out with a principled decision - to go for Nick Kalathis as the leading coordinator of the team being built. 48 hours Later, the coach spoke in front of the microphones and cameras about "exciting signings on the way" and meant the Greek, but the expectations were a little excessive and the celebrations were very early. In retrospect, it is not at all certain that the disruption to the plan was for the worse.

Maccabi realized at a fairly early stage that Kalathis could get into a long legal battle with Barcelona regarding the terms of his release, and we remembered how they delayed and got burned in the past in a similar situation with Tyrese Reyes.

They immediately moved on, and when Lorenzo Brown was marked as an adequate replacement (to say the least), the team felt that they might be left exposed when it comes to the job of managing the game, and would need another senior player who could function as a coordinator in his own right.

That is, 2 more than Brown, but 1 more than Daryl Macon, who was marked as a favorite candidate.

On the day when the agent of the American from Panathinaikos was convinced that an offer was about to reach him, he was informed that the club would be happy to work with him, but regarding another client that he represents.

Baldwin.

Even in his last game as a coach, he began to bring out stars like Baldwin and Panther.

David Blatt (Photo: Danny Maron)

As in the case of Brown, Blatt also managed the contacts with Baldwin.

He knows very well the actor and the personality behind him, about which so many have wondered and wonder.

And as soon as he recommended him and gave the certificate of qualification, everyone was convinced to go for him.

There was only one person left to convince: Baldwin himself, who held the offer to continue at Baskonia, and for the first time in his career could complete two consecutive years with the same team.

Before making a decision, Baldwin took the rather unusual step of calling Brown.

There was no relationship between the two before, and the wanted guard told him about the request he received from the Yellows.

"I want to know what you think about the combination between us", was the spirit of his words.

"If you have an iota of hesitation, and you're not sure about it, I'll get off of it now and go for another option."

For Brown it was surely a refreshing change, in light of the public attacks he suffered in those days from the players who would soon actually win the European Championship with him and the Spanish team.

There is no need to elaborate on his answer, because reality illustrates it best of all: two days later, his new friend signed a contract and officially became a Maccabi Tel Aviv player.

The pair B&B, Brown and Baldwin were born in Eliyahu's hands, and he is the one who will shape, more than any other piece of the puzzle, where the team is headed in the 2022/23 season.

Below: the Bibists.

The situation at the power forward position is so fragile, that in the end he plays at all next to Nivo.

Alex Poithers (photo: Danny Maron)

2. No more Silys and Avances, no more Supo and Žižić

There are quite a few question marks floating around when looking at the squad assembled by Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The first and central one probably concerns the position of the chin.

For years, as a concept, the yellows went for two interior players with a different and opposite style;

Ante Zizic and Jaylen Reynolds were the last (and least successful) pair, while Sophokalis Chorzanitis and Alex Tyus became the ultimate symbol of the idea by winning the Euroleague in 2014.

This time it won't be like that.

Alex Poythers and Josh Niebo are very similar to each other, and the style of play is unlikely to change every time one replaces the other.

On the one hand, this makes sense;

Large, classic and/or heavy chins have not exactly flourished to date with Ketch's method (an easy and beneficial fast for you, Yorgos Papayanis), so the new combination may be more correct;

On the other hand, one of the prominent weak points in the front line in the hall is the lack of inches, giving up playing with your back to the basket and compromising on the stretch marks.

42 percent of the assists provided by Brown in EuroBasket found their way to outside shots by the Spanish giants.

Will he have a similar inscription in Eliyahu's hand?

All this automatically leads and connects to the next slot in the hierarchy, which has become problematic on the entire continent - the power forward position.

Here, too, there is a change in thinking: throughout quite a few seasons, Maccabi's earliest and most dangerous signings were in the guard positions.

There, next to the big stars she signed (such as Scotty Wilbkin and Andrew Goodluck), she placed DJ Sillies and Kenin Avance of the world.

This time, with the rapid and purposeful construction of the back line, done quickly before the rich wake up and lay their hands on all kinds of bibists, the betting department has been moved to the forward arena.

If the best power forward in Europe was replaced by a center at all, that says it all.

Nikola Mirotic (Photo: GettyImages, Sonia Canada)

So yes, Jarl Martin is a gamble.

To begin with, players who have never appeared in Europe are considered suspicious upon their arrival, and as little as could be seen so far - it appears that he is confirming the suspicions.

Bonzie Coulson can certainly become everything that Jonah Bolden dreamed of being, but he is also far from being a safe bet, and the question arises as to what position he should be placed.

Ketch is also still finding his way in this division, and it is probably no coincidence that at this stage of the season, he prefers to play quite a bit with Nibo and Poythers together.

Did Maccabi Tel Aviv make a mistake when it "neglected" position number 4 and did not invest in it like in other positions?

It is easy to say yes, but this question should be examined in light of the alternatives.

Since the seemingly safe power forwards are concentrated in a fairly limited number of groups, even more familiar names would not provide a safe umbrella in the first place.

This is, of course, on the reasonable assumption that the Israeli team would not have been able to enter the mix for the services of Toko Shanglia, Johannes Vogtman or John Brown, who were apparently on the shelf.

Would Adrian Moerme, at his age and in his condition, have contributed and been more suitable?

It may be so.

But not sure at all.

In the end, the problematic market in this position is illustrated by the richest group of all.

Even before the end of the season, Barca thought of replacing Mirotic with Shanglea to distribute the budget cake in a more balanced way;

In the end, Shanglea didn't come, Mirotic stayed - and neither of them will start the season, because both are injured.

And who was put in as a substitute in Palau in Laugrana for one of the best number 4s in history?

Mike Tobey, who is actually a center.

Maccabi Tel Aviv still depends on one guard, but this time it will be completely different.

Scotty Wilvkin at Fenerbahce (photo: official website, Fenerbahce)

3. To be Vinko Ilubac

For four years, almost every analysis that dealt with Maccabi Tel Aviv revolved around the obsessive dependence it developed on Wilbkin.

This summer she decided (or actually he decided for her) to put an end to this unhealthy relationship, and made an exit.

And here, even before the first jump ball, it seems that the foundations of the sports hall depend again on one player.

The weak ability and the unflattering results in the preparatory games, along with Brown's phenomenal success in EuroBasket, gave rise to the expectation that the man would come and solve all the problems and ailments.

His debut, which gave rise to sparks of what Maccabi should do this season, only increased the hype.

The new dependence will be completely different from the one that was in Wilbkin, because of the nature of the pillar - which is supposed to unite the team from the beginning, unite its players and stick them together - and not score 20 points and take ball after ball after ball to the basket in money time.

Brown is a quiet and introverted type, who relies mainly on his animal instincts in managing the game.

Perhaps this is the reason why with strict coaches and control patients, who demand patterned and methodical play, he was less successful - and last year, in the athletic and fantastic Onyx Kazan of Volimir Prasovic, he flourished.

In order for him to be able to spread his wings in Tel Aviv as well, Ketch will have to release old fixations and give him this freedom.

Like the freedom he himself received from one, Vinko Yalovac, 25 years ago.

Start memorizing: No Possibil Win Wideout De Lorenzo.

• sport

• Sports flashers

Tags

• Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball

• Oded Ketch

• Wade Baldwin

• Lorenzo Brown