Tiktukno: summary of today's events in sports, 24.3 (Sport1)
Baldwin in the points table of Maccabi Tel Aviv (photo: photo processing, Aharleh Weisberg)
1. and zenkovalakimet.com
In the years when Maccabi Tel Aviv dominated Israeli basketball without blinking or making an effort, and won championships even before stepping onto the court, an underground website called "Maccabi does not exist" was established.
Week after week, the Premier League table was presented - with a slight change from the official table;
One name is missing in it, no need to guess which one.
It illustrated who the team was that was leading, successful and maybe even crowned champion, in a world where the yellows would not play in the league.
If Wade Baldwin had free time (or too many bored private fans), he would surely be happy to set up the Vezenkov lo kayemet site.
In a world without Sasha Wezenkov, Maccabi Tel Aviv's star in the making could certainly claim the EuroLeague MVP crown.
So it's true, a quick look at the leaders of the factory efficiency index raises a question;
Even if you include the almighty Bulgarian of Olympiakos, there are eight other players whose season numbers are more impressive than Baldwin's.
You know, all kinds of unknowns like Mathias Lessor, Will Clyburn, Vasa Micic and Jonathan Motley.
and yet.
There is something magnetic about this player and what he does, which would make him a natural and automatic candidate for the big prize.
Baldwin has 17.3 points this season in the Euroleague.
He is the vice king of baskets, and only one, and Zenkov, ranks above him.
So it is true that this is not a final number, and as it seems at the moment - Maccabi Tel Aviv has at least seven more games left - but it is worth dwelling on what is happening here.
In her 22 years at the factory, since its establishment in the current version, there were only two players in the club who scored more than him;
Anthony Parker in the winning season in 2005 (18 points per game) and Nikola Vujic in 2003 (17.6), when the current number 5 was in elementary school.
On the day the Yellows parted ways with Scotty Wilvkin, it is doubtful if anyone could have imagined that someone would match his personal numbers so quickly, and even overtake them.
With a quick dribble, step to the side and rise from the spot.
You know, like Baldwin likes.
But there is a significant difference between Baldwin's 17.3 points per season (21.4 in the last 12 games) and the 15.4 scored by Wilbkin last year.
They come without the team's obsessive dependence on one player, and when he is not required and should not take the entire game on him.
Brown is at the top of Maccabi Tel Aviv's assists record table (photo: photo processing, Aharleh Weisberg)
More on the subject
Formidable: Maccabi Tel Aviv won 67:85 over Villerban
2. The landlord settled down
When you expand the view a little on the table of the outstanding, the picture becomes clearer.
Baldwin second in points?
The sixth place, with 16.6, belongs to his partner in the back line of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Baldwin tenth in the index?
Lorenzo Braun is very little behind him, in 13th place.
Baldwin ranks 11th in the entire league in assists (4.6)?
Nice, but he's not even first in his own group.
Brown is above him, with an average of 5.6, in fourth place.
And if we already rummage through the archives and look back, an equally amazing figure emerges: Brown's average assists are the highest for a club player in the 22 years of the Euroleague.
Baldwin has not yet extended a contract (we will use the stage to ask on behalf of others: why?), but Brown has already locked himself into the team.
When he signed, the journey to the playoffs was far from obvious;
The interest and logic of the yellows were clear and visible, and there were many who wondered why the player himself hurried to close and did not wait for offers from the rich of the continent.
And here lies the secret of the magic of the Air B&B duo.
No, we are not comparing the current Maccabi Tel Aviv with the glorious Anadolu Efes of recent years, but just as the Turks built a dynasty around collecting good players who fell into bad situations, so the Yellows - consciously or unconsciously - succeeded in bringing together those who were looking for a home, and especially looking to become owners Home.
"Every child needs one adult who believes in him," said the late Rabbi Shlomo Karlibach. Baldwin needed a coach who would trust him, give him the freedom to create (and sometimes do nonsense) and not try to tame him; he also needed a responsible and solid partner who would complete him , will enhance his advantages and hide his shortcomings. And when he received the surprising phone call in the summer from the man who brought him to Europe in the first place, David Blatt, he probably realized that these were exactly the things he had found.
And Brown?
Why did he give up in advance on Real Madrid who wanted to enter his life?
He also realized quite early in the season that he would have trouble finding a situation like the one he currently has in Tel Aviv;
Mainly in the richest and deepest groups in Europe.
Along with his unique virtues, the man with the ribbon on his head needs the confidence to be the one who determines, decides and styles.
When you expect him to be just another player, he becomes - well - just another player.
That's why he was successful with the fantastic and athletic Velimir Prasovic at Onyx Kazan and successful with Oded Ketch, and that's why he was much less impressive with Zeliko Obradovic two years ago at Fenerbahce.
Nivo's improvement (Photo: GettyImages)
3. And this is when Brown is far from his peak
The point is that Maccabi went on this winning streak when Brown was not at his peak.
In the last month he is hitting 30% for three, and the 5 of 7 for two last night (Thursday) covered 20% of that range in the previous four games.
His index in the current period, 9.6, is actually reminiscent of the days in Fener - and yet, his team does not stop having fun.
The first half yesterday in Villerban was one of the yellows' worst in recent times.
Part of the point, probably;
Those long minutes in which her opponents run at her happened in each of the four victories - in the first quarter against Fenerbahce, between the second and third against Baskonia and at the beginning of the fourth against Eps.
It is not necessarily related to the group itself, because similar things happen to many other groups.
It's just basketball these days.
But when the business flows and the confidence rises, the regressions are suddenly accepted with understanding, and the self-belief gets the demons out of the head.
Brown?
Baldwin?
John DiBartholomew, Josh Nieveau and Jake Cohen are in top form;
Jarel Martin is getting better and better, and is showing a decrease in the level of mistakes;
And throughout the Euroleague there is not even one player who increased his efficiency index in the second round more than Bonzie Colson (from 9.7 to 19, and thanks to Dor Livnat for the statistic).
Villerban, who scored 22 points in the first quarter, added only 24 throughout the second half.
She was on 50% of the field before the break and 24% after it.
Led 15:17 in the battle for rebounds in the first half and lost 20:14 in the second half.
And Maccabi Tel Aviv, in the evening of 28% for threes, went more and more inside - and hit 11 of 14 for twos and 8 of 8 from the penalty box in the third and fourth quarters.
4. Israel 3, France 0
Maccabi Tel Aviv traveled to Lyon, Hapoel Jerusalem won in Strasbourg, Hapoel Holon beat Dijon.
0:3 for Israeli teams over French teams in 24 hours.
And someone will try to argue.
sport
basketball
Euroleague and European basketball
Tags
Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball
Wade Baldwin
Lorenzo Brown
