Hapoel Jerusalem fans in a show of support for Malaga before the FIBA Champions League final (Photo: Yehuda Shohat, video editing: Nir Chen)
1. The paint locked, the threes didn't go in and the penalties as usual
Hapoel Jerusalem deducted 15 points from Tenerife's seasonal average and won it. From AEK Athens and Strasbourg's regular dishes, it cut ten points, and Hapoel Holon by 24. Then, last night (Sunday) in Malaga, came Telekom Bonn. The Germans didn't reach their numbers either, but their 77 points were only five times lower than usual. That was enough. The Champions League was painted pink.
Boone is a worthy champion not only because of the balance sheet, and not just because of T.J. Shorts; It deserves it - because it defeated Jerusalem with its weapons. Or in other words: Hapoel Jerusalem did for her. She disrupted her, bullied her, scratched and subdued her. The Reds/Blacks took the lead for only seven seconds during the entire final; The things that seemed so fluid and natural throughout the season, just didn't work; delivery lines were blocked; And on a day when the paint locks down and the threes splash out, the points that are left on the penalty line, as always, suddenly become critical.
If Speedy Smith, Kadyn Carrington and Brandon Brown combine for five field baskets on 25% shooting, the Israelis contribute eight points combined and still score more than Zach Hankins, the loss becomes obvious — even with LeVay Randolph hot with 27 points. By the way, he was one basket away from his season high (28), which was also recorded in a loss. Not by chance, probably. "Jerusalem will get the best out of him if he is not its target player," his former coach Modi Maor analyzed here this summer. "He's more like Devin Smith than Jaylen Adams."
Coach Aleksandar Dzikic was fouled at the end. "I said before the final that one game doesn't define a team, and I'm 52 now, so I don't change my mind easily. But I'm not happy with what I did in this game. Maybe if I had tried different things, we would have won. But now it's too late, and that's it."
"If I had done other things, maybe we would have won." Aleksandar Dzikic in front of the champions (Photo: official website, Champions League)
2. "We're more talented, but are they more of a team?"
Dzikic, as usual, is too hard. himself, his team. Maybe he's being humble, and maybe he really believes that a coach should never be satisfied. Jerusalem entered the long list of Cinderellas who made a wonderful and impressive journey, only to finish in tears at the finish line, in second place. In so many cases, it's the brutal way of the sporting world, and it's part of the process.
In our eyes, those who follow every move of the team built by the Serbian, is no longer Cinderella. But when concluding a European season, it's important to return to the perspective of beginning, middle and end. And her beginning seemed drab and lacklustre, even to her own people. Ness Ziona Municipal Chairman Yaniv Mizrahi said on Twitter yesterday about a conversation he had over the summer with former Reds CEO Guy Harel, which illustrates exactly the secret of the magic.
"You know when a team like Tenerife comes and the ball moves like Tiki Taka and everyone knows his place and his role, and you come from the other side and say, 'We're more talented, but they're more of a team?'" Mizrahi quoted Harel as saying to him after Sim Sander Vena was signed. "So that's what we're building. We've appointed a high-level coach, we'll let him work and we'll provide him with what he sees fit, even if we don't see it for sure."
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Like a true Cinderella, Jerusalem stopped in second place. Kadyn Carrington disappointed (Photo: official website, Champions League)
3. Parable of Mbappé
Where will this process lead? It's hard to answer right now. Happy Finnish coach Tomas Isalo shared after the win a fascinating story (which Jerusalem fans and players won't really want to read/hear). "Six months ago I watched the World Cup final between Argentina and France with the kids. I don't know who they encouraged, but when they saw Kylian Mbappé crying bitterly they asked why. My wife explained that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, and I, a party destroyer like me, said that Mbappe has already reached the peak of his glory, and he cries because he knows how hard it will be for him to go back there again.
"The next day I showed the team the video from the final and told them what was said at home. Since that moment, this has been our attitude: we have taken into account that this is our peak season, that this is our chance to touch glory, and that it may not come back. And that's why we came to every training session and every game with the feeling that this is the time when we have to go all the way. I was a mediocre player, I never won anything. This is the first degree of my life, and I want to treasure this moment."
Behind the scenes, it turns out that there is a real feeling about Isalo. He is about to make his exit for success in Bonn very soon, when he moves to rich and pretentious Paris. Shorts will no longer be short on cash, either, and that's the fate of a small, poor group that succeeds too much and too quickly; She can't build a dynasty, she can only enjoy the moment.
A small, poor group does not build a dynasty, but pays the price of success. Telecom Bon is happy (Photo: official website, FIBA Champions League)
4. All that glitters gold?
Jerusalem ended one of the greatest seasons in its history in the European arena, but its path is far from over. As early as this week, she will have to land with her feet on the ground to battle for a historic double. Hankins' tears, the gloom on Randolph's face and the pale face of Orr Cornelius betrayed how difficult it would be for these players to get up from the boards in such a short time, but Dzikic – when he returns from his Serbian mother's funeral – will find the twist.
And from there to where? Did the Reds, unlike Bonn, begin to build a dynasty? Or have they gotten themselves into the trap of the rich? Do you even touch a team that has connected so well (as the poet says if it ain't broken, why fix it) or do you look for a way to upgrade, at the cost of parting with players who actually succeeded? How do you perform these surgical touches, without disturbing the balance in the locker room and on the pitch?
Is there even enough depth in this roster? Should Jerusalem move to the Eurocup, it will have 18 guaranteed matches in the group stage alone, while yesterday it finished a season in almost the longest form the Champions League has to offer - with 17 in total. In fact, does the expected economic leap from Matan Adelson's grandiose plans fit in with Dzikic's basketball philosophy? Is there room for proven, expensive and ego-laden stars in the military unit built by the Serb at Bahad Arena?
Many question marks promise an interesting and fascinating future, and they too will not cover the obvious exclamation point: after several years of shuffling, Jerusalem has taken the most important step from its point of view - and returned to interest and curiosity. And on the way to beat all the rivalries that came its way. Almost all of them.
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- Euroleague and European basketball
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- Hapoel Jerusalem