Recap: Real Madrid vs Gran Canaria 68:95 (Sport1)
Hapoel Jerusalem was the only team among the top four that failed to make it past the quarterfinals in a sweep, but finally completed the job with a 1-3 victory over Bnei Herzliya on Sunday. The cup holders twice lost a double-digit lead, but on the third escape the hosts did not return and the team from the capital celebrated 61:86.
The semi-final series against Hapoel Tel Aviv will begin on Wednesday at 21:00 in the capital, the second game in Tel Aviv on Saturday night at the same time. If necessary, the third game will be held in Jerusalem next Monday, also at 21 p.m.
Coach Aleksandar Dzikic said: "There were too many ups and downs. I'm not happy, it sounds stupid because we beat them by 00 points, but here I am again unhappy. It won't be enough in the next round. We'll see what happens in the semifinals. It's not the ups and downs, it's how we did it. I understand mistakes that happen, but a lot of the points we got were a loss of focus. All season long I talk about the quality of Hapoel Tel Aviv, with many good Israelis and good foreigners, they will be very prepared for us. If we play like today, I'm not sure it will be enough. Those are the facts, we'll try to figure out how to compete between maybe the two best squads in the league."
"Sometimes there are players who come off the bench and think too much about themselves," Dzikic continued, "I need to see the game again. What I'm asking them to do is it's very difficult, to find the balance between shooting in transition and controlling the pace. That's from day one. When you play against a team like that they can score a lot of points, there's no room for celebration before it's over. I'm not saying I'm right, but that's my understanding. 25 percent would disagree with me."
Even winning by 25 points doesn't satisfy him. Dzikic with Hapoel Jerusalem players (Photo: Kobi Eliyahu)
After last season stunned Israeli basketball and made it all the way to the playoff finals, this year the team's journey from the Sharon to the quarterfinals ended with a 3:1 loss in the series. Team coach Oren Aharoni summed up: "We felt we were equal to Jerusalem, their intensity and depth was decisive. Despite the feeling of missing out, I'm proud to be the coach of these players. We started the game poorly and they had very good shooting percentages, and from minus 20 to come back like that in the third quarter, that's really something that characterizes us and the players."
"The three guards of Jerusalem made a high-level game, LeVay Randolph scored a crazy three and Speedy Smith and it broke us. I'm proud of everything we've done this season, it's hard to play a playoff series with such a short roster. In the past two years, Herzliya has become a legitimate playoff team that competes equally against all the big ones. We went through injuries to all our key players, but Sandy Cohen's disadvantage as an Israeli was decisive."
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Feeling missed. Aharoni (Photo: Kobi Eliyahu)
On the Israelis' plight, the coach said: "Back at the beginning of the season when we lost Sean Dawson it was clear that we needed an Israeli, and when Gal Mekel decided to retire we were left with a disadvantage. Despite all our efforts, we couldn't get our hands on an Israeli and felt the downside all season. We played in the Champions League at home hard, and had a good campaign with two wins over Ritas. We dragged the Israeli's disadvantage all season."
"We've dealt with injuries, Quinton Hooker has been out for two months, Chris Babb, Robert Carter just recently returned, all of our top four. We didn't bring in big stars from outside, we stayed together, and in the last third of the season we were much better. There are enough good people here who will know how to learn the lessons, we made the playoffs, we had a good series, and I have great pride to see the arena as full as last season. We are not without mistakes, we made mistakes, some of them do not depend on us, but there are enough good people to know how to correct and come with renewed strength next season. We'll take a few days and sit down with the people of Herzliya, we'll make decisions."
- sport
- basketball
- League
Tags
- Hapoel Jerusalem
- Bnei Herzliya
- Aleksandar Dzikić