It is impossible to play well against a weak team, and Maccabi did not play well against Alba Berlin yesterday (Thursday).
And as much as I like Israel Gonzalez's approach to the game, his distribution of minutes, his long-term construction, even for me it was a bit excessive.
It reaches situations where it feels like winning is a secondary goal for it.
And this is no longer the right way to coach a Euroleague team.
But this is Alba's problem, and on the other hand, even from a game that ends in the first quarter, you can learn interesting things about Maccabi.
Gonzales.
Maybe exaggerating a bit, photo: Alan Shiver
Stretches in the BB section
When Baldwin's first 3-pointer went in, even though he took a bad shot with misaligned legs, it was clear this was going to be his game.
As if he anticipated Brown's injury and realized that he would lead and he would steer.
It led to four three-pointers and a career record in the Euroleague, but the question is, is it good for Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Unlike other games, he also gave 6 assists, but his style leads to a solo and messy game, and Maccabi finished with only 13 assists.
The competition for leadership between him and Brown is also not good for Maccabi, mainly because they don't really play well together.
In an interview he gave to the Basket News website this week, Baldwin said, among other things: "I'm the main creator this year, so I have to feel the game. And I love it."
It will be interesting later.
Baldwin and Ketch.
The canal, photo: Alan Shiver
the bench wing
It is true and desirable to include secondary players in such games, but you need to know how to do it.
You can put them in at the end of big games when victory is already guaranteed, but then it's a show with no real meaning.
And you can combine them at the very beginning, as Katz tried to do.
It creates some logical pressure and responsibility because the game is not over, and that's how the game went for him from 12 to 8 until the end.
It annoys the audience sometimes, but it's the only way to earn something.
It's just important not to combine them all together.
Substituting more than two players together breaks the team's sequence and momentum, and is also unfair to the substitutes themselves.
It is better to balance fives between stars and substitutes, and that way there is a better chance for everyone to succeed and for the substitutes to improve, and above all, the game method is not affected.
On the other hand, when it only happens against a very weak team, the feeling is that it is a one-time gesture, and next week in Greece you won't play, or maybe you won't even dress.
That's how it is when there are so many players.
A point to think about: Manko and Hilliard scored a combined 5-6 from three, an average of three for every four minutes of play for each of them.
Maccabi Mishvaat is looking for a solid scorer, but they don't have anyone like that.
Probably one of those is hiding too deep in the rotation.
Can we learn something from this for next week?
Maybe for the derby, but against Olympiakos they will probably return to the depths of the bench.
Darren Hilliard releases air, photo: Alan Shiver
The Israelis
The frustrating thing about the Israeli replacements is that under Oded Ketch in the team, Esau Rafi Manko and Teftah Ziv made a big jump in their ability.
Tamir Blatt and Yuval Sussman also starred in Ketch's reserve team, but had to move to Berlin because they didn't have a place to play in the Euroleague.
There are very few Israeli coaches, if any, who connect to the soul of the Israeli player like Ketch.
So it is true that Oded was encouraged in his first full year and needs to gain experience and confidence before changing Maccabi's foreign-based system, but on the other hand he states that he agrees with it, when he says that his Maccabi has a thin staff and needs to bring in another foreigner, who was indeed signed (see in the next section).
Maccabi Tel Aviv has vicarious responsibility for Israeli basketball and the Israeli player, because it is its only representative in the Euroleague and it should be built on the best Israelis, with the reinforcement of five excellent foreigners.
It's a matter of values and responsibility.
In a fascinating review by Tomer Givati yesterday, it becomes clear that the two Israelis of Alba contribute more than the five Israelis of Maccabi combined, in all aspects and metrics.
And our story ends with Maccabi fans booing Yuval Sussman, who is extremely miserable.
It is up to Oded Ketch to change the picture, and it will be a dramatic and significant change for all of Israeli basketball.
Sussman.
received an embarrassing scorn,
Suleiman the Great
So Maccabi signed its tenth foreigner for this season.
True, Braymo played for Ketch, understands the system, and is also able to score from three and pass from the penalty line area, which Poithers did not know.
But it will be at the expense of Jake Cohen who is the author and the balancer.
And it will be another shuffling of the rotation, which continues to stabilize precisely when foreigners are missing (last night without Adams and Brown most of the game).
Those in favor will say that the many foreigners are precisely for these injuries and illnesses, but that's not how you build a team.
And by the way, there are many good players in this position who are born in Europe (see Hapoel Jerusalem), but the full tax relief is not valid for them, so they continue to bring in Americans.
Suleiman in Raimo.
The new center of Maccabi Tel Aviv, photo: Maccabi Tel Aviv
The day after Nicola
In the two years of the European Championship in 2004-2006, two foreigners and two Bosmen played in Maccabi, and since then a significant inflation has developed in the rules of foreigners and their number, under the patronage and encouragement of Maccabi, which sweeps away the other league teams, and dries up the Israeli player.
When there are ten foreigners, Maccabi de facto has two different teams for Europe and the local league, without real justification.
Five years ago, Maccabi announced that it would register two separate teams, for the league and the Euroleague, in protest of the foreigner rules and after the players' strike, then the rules were improved in its favor.
And yet, it continues to sign ten foreigners, most of whom are mediocre, dry up the Israelis, and remain mediocre.
And again, with the departure of Nikola Vujic, the ball is in the hands of David Blatt and Oded Ketch.
We'll get through the winter and then we'll see.
Maybe next summer you'll wear blue and white.
The crowd of Maccabi Tel Aviv is crazy, photo: Alan Shiver
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