Hapoel Jerusalem tonight (Wednesday) hosted the German Ludwigsburg in the second round of the group stage in the FIBA Champions League at Hafis Arena and suffered a disappointing home loss, 80:71, which complicated the Reds in the fight for the ticket to the next stage of the factory and gave Alexander Džikić many reasons For concern and food for thought.
Dzikic's apprentices returned to their home field after two disappointing away losses in the league to Hapoel Holon and Bnei Herzliya and hoped to return to the winning track with the help of the Jerusalem crowd that pushed their players, but once again presented a bad and uncoordinated game, scored at very low percentages from outside the arc and could not against the German opponent, which led safely in many minutes of the game, on the way to the impressive away victory.
Jerusalem's weak game, photo: Barney Ardov
The first quarter of the match was close and characterized by a relatively low rate of scoring, with neither team managing to escape their opponent and open a significant gap.
The Reds struggled to produce points in the second quarter as well, showing low shooting percentages and scoring only one three-pointer the entire half, which allowed the Germans to run away to a seven-point lead at the end of the quarter.
Only one team in the arena advanced to the second half.
The guest continued to be the best team on the field, opening the half with a 6:15 run and increasing their advantage to a promising double-digit difference of 22 points at the end of the quarter, which they maintained until the end.
Speedy Smith.
Bad shooting day, photo: Barney Ardov
The only bright spot for the Jerusalemites was the performance of the forward/center Marks Meiris, who has not impressed so far and tonight contributed 19 points and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes of play, which were not enough for the Reds to win.
The Reds knew throughout the summer that building a new team would have an impact on the ability at the beginning of the season due to the fact that the players take time to connect to the coach's method, but they also did not believe that they would record only one victory in the first four games in the league and in Europe.
In an enterprise like the Champions League, where there are a small number of games in the first stage and each one is decisive, any loss may change the fate of an entire season, the meaning of tonight's loss will be discovered by the Reds in a short time.
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