Tiktekno: clip summarizing today's events in sport, 19.1/sport1
Maccabi Tel Aviv has overcome many obstacles and challenges this season, but last week its number 1 problem was revealed.
The losses to Partizan Belgrade, Olympiakos and Hapoel Tel Aviv were accompanied by a different but similar scenario: in some cases the crash came at the beginning of the third quarter (Partizan Belgrade, Olympiakos) or towards the end of the last quarter (Hapoel Tel Aviv), in some they lost a big lead (Partizan Belgrade, Hapoel Tel Aviv) or simply allowed a close game to get out of their hands (Olympiacos), but in all three of them the same sick evil was manifested - an inexplicable stagnation on the lines and on the floor, which does not allow the momentum of an opposing team to be slowed down at key moments in the game, and increases again and again in losses.
This is how it looks, game after game:
last Friday, Maccabi Tel Aviv goes into the half against Partizan with a promising lead of 16 points.
The third quarter starts, and Partizan with a secondary and surprising lineup is slowly biting away at the difference.
Maccabi Tel Aviv goes to a television timeout only five and a half minutes later, after Partizan's 4:15 run, after the difference has dwindled to only 5 (on the other hand, Maccabi Tel Aviv's 0:16 run at the start of the game was attempted by Zeljko Oberdovich stopping with a quick timeout, only one minute and 10 seconds from the jump ball, trailing 5:0 - which didn't really help him);
Six days pass, and Maccabi Tel Aviv's third quarter syndrome repeats itself.
Olympiakos, who went into halftime with a 6-point lead, was already leading by 16 five and a half minutes from the start of the quarter, and only then, considerably late, Ketch took an initiated timeout, after 4:15 from the start of the quarter, and at the end of the 0:10 run by the Greeks;
From these minutes, needless to say, Maccabi Tel Aviv did not recover and was defeated 89:72;
Moving to the drive-in.
Also yesterday the obscene habit was exposed, even if at a different time.
4:49 minutes to the end of the game, Wade Baldwin is accurate twice from the penalty line and puts Maccabi Tel Aviv on a double-digit lead in the derby.
Only after Hapoel's 4:16 run, two and a half minutes since those free throws by Baldwin, Ketch takes a timeout.
The advantage is already on the side of Hapoel Tel Aviv, which is riding on the momentum on the way to a great victory, 86:89.
Fixations that are expensive?
Ketch/Danny Maron
The runs at the expense of Maccabi Tel Aviv can be attributed to a variety of factors.
Maybe it's Oded Ketch's fixations, maybe it's a leadership problem on the floor (Wade Baldwin is the only one trying to take on the game, but suffers from caprices), but one thing is clear: it's not accidental.
Ketch's blanket may be too short, but his team fades almost regularly when games come together for a decider.
Pay attention to the following figure: out of 27 official games this season, Maccabi Tel Aviv won in the last quarter only in 9 of them.
In 15 games - some of which still ended with victory - they lost in the fourth quarter, and in three cases they ended it with a tie.
"It's very frustrating. We need to understand how to win as a team, to go back to the basics," analyzed Bonzie Coulson at the end.
"It doesn't matter if this is the league in Israel, the Euroleague - we need to stop with this pattern of leading and losing the advantage. We need to stay together, unite, and when the other team goes on a run, quickly understand what to do to stop it, offensively and defensively."
Can Maccabi Tel Aviv find a solution for this?
It is still too early to say, but there is no doubt that this is a recurring problem that requires quick treatment.
More on the same topic:
Maccabi Tel Aviv in basketball