The disappointment and signed faces of the Hapoel Jerusalem players at the exit from the Hall of Pais Arena last night (Wednesday) conveyed more than anything else the conclusion of the sad evening for them. Aleksandar Dzikic's pupils unconditionally surrendered 86:55 to Hapoel Tel Aviv and fell behind 1-0 in the playoff semifinals, one loss away from elimination and the end of the season.
The Jerusalemites, who displayed toughness and uncompromising defense throughout the season, lost the game to Tel Aviv this time with their tools. The hosts conceded 86 points, including 44 in the paint and 25 from turnovers, while on the offensive side except for Speedy Smith, who stood out, no one appeared.
"They played very well, they kicked our ass. We have to re-prepare, try to figure out what needs to be done better and try to play differently in the next game,"Aleksandar Dzikic admitted. "It's a playoff series, there's not too much time to think about it. There are such games also. It's particularly bad timing, no doubt, but we'll have to sit down and talk about it and come out differently in the next game. There are a lot of people who are a little happy that it happened, we'll see."
The coach also addressed the approach teams should show in the second game of the series on Saturday night: "It's something we have to change. The way we change it is not important, we will have to change it. There is group responsibility and individual responsibility. Look in the mirror, you'll understand what you've done wrong. If you don't do that, you're not real. I'm sure there were players who thought it would be easy because we beat them three times this season. To create an atmosphere like that, it's just not good."
Aleksandar Dzikic. From the blood of his heart, photo: Oded Karni
Jerusalem captainItai Segevshared his feelings at the end: "There are no excuses, this is the first time we broke like this this season with bad timing. We'll have to learn from our mistakes and come in better for the second game. We need to understand with ourselves what happened, I have no answers or excuses. It's a series and we have one more game to save the season."
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A violent and dangerous incident occurred in the second half when a lighter thrown from the direction of the home team's stand hit one of the match referees, causing his forehead to bleed. The club issued a strong condemnation in the fourth quarter. The team is currently examining its legal options and, alongside denying the subscriber to the fan who threw the object, is considering the possibility of taking additional legal action.
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