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The music of the case: Maccabi Tel Aviv in an identity crisis Israel today

2022-12-03T09:26:28.577Z


On average, Oded Ketch made a substitution every minute • The players looked at the drill board and did not understand what was expected of them • Lorenzo Brown will collapse from overload in a moment • And the Euroleague does not intend to wait for the Yellows who have lost direction


"For a whole year he did nothing but drove a car back and forth across America and waited until the money ran out. At first he didn't expect it to last so long, but one thing led to another, and when Nash realized what was happening to him, he was already beyond the stage where he wanted it to end."

(The opening of "The Music of Chance", by Paul Auster).

Every start of a Maccabi Tel Aviv game there is a new hope.

The eyes are looking for something new, a sophisticated exercise, a planned move, a group defensive combination.

But even in Munich, Maccabi played only the music of chance, maintaining a level of recklessness in defense and attacking randomly.

Despite a great opportunity due to the absence of two key German players and the early injury of a third, Maccabi continues to pull teams out of crises, to allow inferior opponents (on paper) to get the best of themselves, while it itself sinks into a stereotyped and uninspiring grayness, and remains the only team in the Euroleague without an away win .

Winning away from home is a significant sign of a connected team, and Maccabi is currently still a collection of individuals, without a whole that is greater than its parts.

The absence of Wade Baldwin and Darron Hilliard was also an opportunity.

Maccabi has too long a roster, and it's already a tradition to bring in too many mediocre players and then wonder why the business doesn't come together.

He doesn't connect because players need confidence, transparency, understanding the way, and reasonable knowledge about their expected contribution and their playing minutes.

But they didn't find all of these even last night, because the relatively limited rotation was clouded by Oded Ketch's replacement train, which did not allow the players to enter the zone, and once again included a trial and error laboratory without an orderly guideline.

catch

Wholesale exchanges, without purpose, photo: Alan Shiver

Ketsch made 40 substitutions in the game, an average of one per minute, which peaked in the second quarter, Maccabi's weakest.

This quarter actually started with an interesting and smart quintet (Adams, John Dee, Manko, Martin and Nieuw) that created a defense and a passing game, but everything collapsed when the train station started which produced 17(!) substitutions in ten minutes, including a quintet with Nieuw and Poythers together that is already scheduled to be a wedding waste.    

Take for example Jaylen Adams, who came to Maccabi by chance after the start of the season, because of Hilliard's injury.

He is a huge offensive player who showed us tremendous performances in Jerusalem, and the rumors of a problematic nature were dispelled when he fit in nicely and contributed in the minutes he got without complaining.

This time it was clear that he had to be significant, and he was, but it happened despite the messy exchange and rotation strategy.

Adams did score 21 points and was the only one to help Lorenzo Brown, but he did it in nine segments during the game.

He was replaced and returned nine times (including four different times in the second quarter), played 6 and 5 consecutive minutes at the start of the first and third quarters respectively, and in all other bounces he received a 2-3 minute flash and returned to the bench.

Under a deliberate strategy he could have finished the game with 40 points and brought victory.

But randomness is not the way to allow players to build and contribute.

Adams in the center.

Ketch took him out of the zone, photo: Alan Shiver

And randomness also prevails in defense.

Protection is coordination, and understanding, and help, and connection.

But Maccabi continues to score an average of 25 points per quarter, and the haphazardness in the defense leads to personal initiatives by players who go for an unplanned double up far from the basket, which results in a quick ball movement and an easy three-pointer.

Since Maccabi scored the same number of field goals as Bayern (21), and was even excellent from the line, the difference was Bayern's 11 three-pointers (at 50%) versus Maccabi's 7 three-pointers.

That was the end of the game, but it came about because of the unplanned defense and laxity in the defense of the individual.

And of course the defense ends with a rebound, and here again 14 offensive rebounds brought 21 points from a second chance for Bayern.

Jaylen Adams with 5 rebounds in 25 minutes, took more rebounds than Poythers, Nieveau and Sorkin together (4 rebounds together in 56 minutes!).

And as in the match in Belgrade with Lasor, this time too, an ex-Maccabi color (Othello Hunter) stood out, reminding Maccabi of better times under the basket.      

Even in the attack, chance is celebrated, when Poithers receives the ball on the line in a burst or on the three-point arc and is supposed to make decisions, which often turn into turnovers.

When Sorkin, who already thought he had proven himself as the leading forward, again gets only 11 minutes.

Poythers.

Can't find himself, photo: Alan Shiver

And at the end, the moment that stood out was when Adams looked back to Ketch on his way to the critical attack of the game, waiting for the instruction, but it didn't come, so Adams went to the basket on four and drew a lucky foul.

Or the last timeout where Jarl Martin looks at the drawings on the board and then at Ketch's face, who is changing an exercise in the process, and tries to understand what exactly they are doing.

The move ends in a loss, but it's not just the instructions.

During a break like this, we are fond of talking strategy, putting faith in, looking in the eyes.

But there were only technical drawings.

Not enough.

That's how Maccabi became Brown and another 11. And that's bad for Maccabi, and bad for Ketch, and bad for 11, and worst of all for Brown.

No player likes to be the Atlas holding the ball alone.

Brown is also the most prominent loser in the Euroleague, because he decides 5 times more than any other player.

Then he is also required to keep good scorers, go through blocks with strength, and play 32 minutes on average (yesterday 36!).

It will soon fall apart.

And here, on the other hand, Trincieri, who controls his team very well and whom Maccabi really wanted in the summer, defeated Ketch in a knock-out, perpetuating the fact that Maccabi is much less trained, and is built on the most incorrect squad.

So many mediocre players who don't get a real chance because of the overcrowding on the bench.

The problem is that each player gave one good game - and then comes "we were waiting for him, we knew he was like that".

Hilliard scored against Partizan, Poithers beat Hapoel in the Winner Cup, Martin snagged a few three-pointers against Olympiakos, Nibo stood out mainly in losses.

But it's impossible to excel when you don't have a defined role and a structured place in the hierarchy.

elementary.

 Ketch himself admitted at the end of the game: "We tried zoning, we tried high composition, we tried small ball".

And also noted the lack of experience of the players.

At this stage of the season do you need so many experiments?

Does Maccabi have an identity or does it just have to adapt to the opponent, however weak it may be?

And what does this have to do with experience?

And so, like the hero of Paul Auster's book, Maccabi Tel Aviv also continues to drive a car across America, wait for the money to run out, and hope that the case has its own music.

But she is already starting to hear the voices.

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

Source: israelhayom

All sports articles on 2022-12-03

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