When Maccabi Tel Aviv built the squad for the current season, it knew that it would not be easy for it to find the missing piece for the front position.
Josh Nibo was included in the lists even when he played for Hapoel Eilat, thanks to the athleticism, speed and stability he demonstrated, and was then marked for a less significant role.
But he preferred to go to Zalgiris Kovna and continue his progress as a first center also in the Euroleague, before returning to Israel last summer.
As in Eilat and as in Kovna, Nibo was supposed to function this season alongside a player in the power forward position who would win the game for him;
Jonathan Schuldebrand did it in the southern city, Tyler Kavanaugh in Lithuania, and this time Alex Poithers was supposed to play a little more outside.
In addition, the position of center was occupied by Lorenzo Brown, a player who knows how to run high, and for Nibo this was excellent news - after he enjoyed fruitful collaborations with Joe Ragland, Lucas Lacavichios and Mantas Kalaniitis.
But in the first weeks in Tel Aviv it didn't exactly work.
The combination between Poithers and Nivo was not successful, and created an unnatural density, and precisely after his partner was injured - Nivo began to flourish.
His collaboration with Jarl Martin was much more successful and coordinated, and then he disappeared again.
Brown was absent for an extended period, and the center did not receive a ball.
In eight games without him, he was stuck at 4.8 points and less than three shots, and the return of the center in the semi-finals of the State Cup against Hapoel Haifa also marked his own return: Nivo demonstrated a record game of 16 points, 11 rebounds and an index of 31, which overwhelms the question: should the Yellows invest in him And keep him to take another step forward next season.
Lorenzo Brown is back, and he brought along with him Josh Nibo (photo: Danny Maron)
Nivo arrived in Israel in 2020 as a kind of question mark.
He was not marked as a player who should reach the highest levels, but the team with whom Ariel Beit HaLachemi works recognized huge potential in him;
Already upon his arrival in Eilat, at the end of August, it was clear that this was a diamond that required polishing.
"I definitely thought he was at Euroleague level, and he's proving it. All in all, I'm proud of him and the way he's done," says Beit HaLachemi.
"We brought him to Eilat when he was under the radar. He is not included among the top 100 seniors, but what he does, there are not many players who do much better than him. Together with his easy-going nature, personality and the desire he always has to improve, he is a blessing to the team."
Already during that season, Ettore from Sina Olimpia Milan tried to add Nibo, but Qaylat saw an opportunity to achieve a significant achievement in the Premier League, asked for a lot of money for him and the deal did not work out.
Oded Ketch, who coached at Panathinaikos at the time, spoke publicly about wanting to join him (alongside Keenan Evans, who starred at Hapoel Haifa at the time), and in the end he did not finish the season in Israel due to the Wall Guard operation.
In Zalgiris Nivo did not reach a team achievement, but pleasantly surprised with solid averages of 8.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and a 12.8 rating in his debut season in the Euroleague.
"Did we make a mistake not bringing Nivo last season? It could very well be that we did," one of the Maccabi Tel Aviv staff admitted this week.
"We had a feeling that the combination of Ante Zizic and Jaylen Reynolds would be better than it ended up being, but Nieveau was a top contender before that. If we went all-out on him as second-highest below Ante, he likely would have come To us already then."
Already when he played in Eilat, he aroused the interest of Messina and Ketch.
Nivo in front of Suleiman Barimo in 2021 (Photo: Danny Maron)
Maccabi Tel Aviv's strength this season is precisely in the outfield positions.
Brown, Wade Baldwin and Bonzie Colson are bingo, and the Yellows have done and are doing everything to keep this core for the future.
Under the basket, the story is a little different.
His dialect, as evidenced by the numbers from the beginning of the article, depends quite a bit on the players next to him and their style.
"Josh is a complementary player at the highest level," says Beit HaLachemi.
"He's not a player who can play one on one, but I think Maccabi uses him well. And not just Lorenzo. He's a powerful player."
Maccabi Tel Aviv is sure that over time, the cooperation between Nivo and Martin will improve, and the two should continue for the next season as well.
"It was known that Josh needed the player to open the field for him," admitted the club.
"He also needs a player who will activate him like Lorenzo, but also one who will give him the appropriate spacing inside. It works quite well with Martin, and there are many thoughts on what to do."
Tonight (Thursday, 20:45) Nivu will be able to win his first significant title in Israel, when he advances to the final of the State Cup against Hapoel Jerusalem.
On the other side of the field, Zach Hankins is waiting for him, who, just like him, is Jerusalem's leading big man.
Perhaps unlike him, Hankins does not have a sufficiently high-quality replacement on the bench (as Maccabi Tel Aviv has with Roman Sorkin).
A quartet that should continue for another season.
Martin, Nibo, Coulson and DiBartholomew (Photo: Kobi Eliyahu)
In the league game between the teams, Nivvo recorded his worst game in the league so far, only two points and two rebounds in 15 minutes, without Brown and with Sorkin starting in front of him and contributing seven points and five rebounds.
Hankins didn't have a big game either with nine points and six rebounds.
"From my acquaintance with the two coaches, we know who will be in the top five in Jerusalem and we don't know who will be in Maccabi," the Beit Lahemi analyst said.
"I don't know if it's the matchup. They are different players because Hankins is much more technical and can do things that Nebo can't, like the short roll and the pass. One on one there is no reason for him to make baskets on Nebo."
"As in every game, we need Josh in a good capacity," admitted Maccabi.
"Not only is he a central part of us, we will need him in the defense of Hankins, who is a very central player in Jerusalem. If we don't know how to stop him, we might get into trouble in this game."
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