After a disappointing season for them that ended without a title, Maccabi Tel Aviv did some thinking last summer, and proceeded to dismantle and reassemble. Along with the signing of Oded Ketch, all the foreigners without exception left, and a battery of new and shiny foreigners landed in the Menorah Mivathim Hall.
In recent years, the club has gone for experienced foreigners alongside relatively young and less known in the back line, but also those who may make the jump in the future, such as Chris Jones and Keenan Evans.
This summer, the Yellows decided to change direction and go with the known and the known, with the signing of six experienced foreigners with proven Euroleague experience.
In the small forward position, Maccabi went in a different direction, and decided to bet on Bonzi Colson, a move that carries with it an impressive and defensive firepower, but also a lack of experience in the Euroleague.
If at the beginning the Yellows feared the integration of the forward, who had never played in the continent's top club, now in the middle of the season, after Lorenzo Brown's injury at the weekend, Coulson's importance for Ketch has grown even more.
The beginning of the road was not easy for the American, who got used to a new status in his career and a different role assigned to him on the field.
Coulson, who throughout his career was a scorer and a central player in his teams, became in the wide roster of the yellows and in his coach's method, which sanctifies the ball carriers and the guards in the "pick and roll" method, a supplementary player who earns his living from moves of energy and desire in attack and sacrifice in defense.
This is an area that used to be his weak point, when precisely the offensive use of it was very limited.
Coulson.
Poythers came out sweet, photo: Alan Shiver
"Aware that there is a rotation"
"I don't have to think about my situation, but just work hard and be ready to go up and play as soon as the coach needs me. Whether it's in defense or attack, I have to continue to play my game the way I know how, make the free threes, keep some positions on defense and being the best I can in the role I'm given," Colson said in those days.
The forward who landed in Eliyahu's hands after record seasons in the Turkish Krashyaka and before that in the French Strasbourg, was a central player in both countries and was even chosen last season as the MVP of the season in the FIBA Champions League, so the minority of minutes and the designation were new for him, since he left the NBA, but Coulson stayed focused and waited for an opportunity.
"I'm not upset that I'm not playing, I'm aware that the Euroleague team has a lot of rotation and everyone is talented, so I'm constantly trying to find the things that I can do that others don't, things that will keep me on the field. I try to be the best in my role, and if I don't play, I'll be best at helping off the bench and cheering my guys on," Coulson shared.
Coulson.
Ketch found the formula to get the best out of him, photo: Alan Shiver
Poythers turned out sweet
The turning point for Coulson came with the sidelining of Alex Poythers who injured his hand, underwent surgery and ended the season.
The free minutes and the substitute who did not arrive at that point allowed the forward to get a great opportunity, and he took it with both hands and showed an impressive improvement from week to week.
The dry statistics in the Euroleague also prominently show Coulson's sharp improvement.
If in the first 11 seasons until Poythers' injury, Colson scored double-digit points in the game only 4 times, in the following nine games without the injured inside player, Bonzi scored 7 times in double figures and became the third most important player in the Ketch rotation, while Breaks his Euroleague career record twice in the same week and puts him at 29 points.
His average points were 8.7 per game in the first 11 games until Poythers was injured, and in the next nine games after his teammate was injured Bonzi improved his numbers to an average of 12.3 points per game, an increase of 41%, while the average minutes also jumped from 22 to -25 after the injury.
"I feel much more comfortable with my role in the team today, I've learned to accept it and try to improve in it," Colson said in a conversation with "Israel Today" after the home win over Elba Berlin last week.
"I learn from my teammates and try to be the most professional in what I do. I have no doubt that I have improved since the start of the season, I feel the improvement and try to be as consistent as possible. I feel different than at the start of the season and much more confident in myself."
Poythers' unfortunate injury caused Coulson to reinvent himself in the middle of the season and re-bloom in the yellow uniform.
Tonight at the Shlomo Group Hall in Derby, and due to the absence of Lorenzo Brown, Ketch will expect him to continue the improvement graph from the last month.
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