Three Israelis are playing in the Euroleague this year outside of Maccabi Tel Aviv. Two of them - Yuval Sussman and Tamir Blatt - are playing for Alba Berlin and are getting significant minutes there, ones that they would not necessarily get in Maccabi Tel Aviv uniforms.
According to the estimates of the professionals, if Oded Ketch continues in his position as coach of the yellows, it is not impossible that he will try to add the two Israelis, whom he highly values professionally.
At the press conference ahead of tonight's game (Thursday, 9:05 p.m.), Ketsch referred to the pair of players, who according to reports in Germany throughout the week, Sussman is doubtful for the match due to injury, while the injured Blatt will not take part.
"Yuval and Tamir are significant for Alba. I love them very much, and I am happy for their success."
The coach added: "If they don't play, it will really have a big impact. For us, it is very significant in the preparation, it affects the game plan. Tamir brings something different to Alba, who also did a lot of damage in the first half in the first away game. Yuval, with his length and abilities in defense, Gives them important tools."
Just before he meets them and their team tonight as an opposing coach at the Menorah Mitvachim Hall, we set out to check the numbers behind the success of the Israelis in the German capital, and to understand how significant their absence really is for the German club.
Blatt and Susman.
Alba will be missed, photo: Getty
Leave dust for the yellows
Among the 17 players who were part of the German team this season, only three players received more playing minutes than they averaged per evening.
Sussman ranks fourth in his team in average playing minutes per evening with 22, and right after him in fifth place is Blatt with 21 minutes.
For comparison, in Maccabi Tel Aviv, the leading pair of Israelis in the minutes list are Roman Sorkin, who ranks seventh in the team with 17 minutes played per evening, and in ninth place is John DiBartholomew, who is credited with 14 minutes played in the factory.
Sorkin.
The Israeli who gets the most minutes for Maccabi, photo: Alan Shiver
If you consider all the playing minutes of Elba's Israeli players, the numbers are even clearer: Blatt and Susman played a total of 839 playing minutes this season.
On the other hand, all the Israeli players of Maccabi Tel Aviv (five who received minutes) played a total of 743 minutes.
If you look at the offensive output through the points column, you find that the Israeli center ranks third in his team with 9.1 points per night, and in second place in total points this season in his team with 173 points per game, and next to him "Zos" is in ninth place with 6.8 points per game.
Together they add up to 15.9 points for the evening.
On the other hand, with the Israeli yellows, the senior on the list is Sorkin, who ranks seventh in the team with 6.4 points per game and 109 points in total this season.
The next Israeli on the list will once again be DiBartholomeo, who is ninth overall on his team with 5.1 points per game.
In total, all five Maccabi Israelis combine for 15.6 per evening.
Another statistic that indicates the importance of the Israelis in Elba refers to the rate of the offensive load and their use in the attack.
According to the advanced data analysis website "Instat", Blatt's offensive load rate stands at 22.70% - high in line with his role as the team's game manager, and also significantly higher than the rest of Maccabi's Israeli players, where DiBartholomew leads the locals with 15.60%.
Blatt and Susman defend Yul, photo: EPA
Blatt is given a free hand in the attack by his coach, and this is also reflected in the numbers and the choice of shots.
The center leads his team this season in the number of three-pointers he scored in the Euroleague with 46, and Sussman added another 13. For comparison, all of Maccabi's Israeli players together scored 24 three-pointers this year, 20 of them by DiBartholomeo.
As a game manager, the ball is in Blatt's hands and so is the decision-making, and therefore his assist figures are exceptional compared to his teammates in blue and white.
The center is ranked second in his team with 92 assists, while his Israeli teammate adds 32 assists equal to 124, and together they give 6.8 assists per evening.
And if we compare one more time: Maccabi's Israeli players gave 49 together this season, equaling 3.4 assists per evening for all its players together - about half the amount.
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