Omri's 4 Column
When summarizing the last Maccabi Tel Aviv game vs. Vitoria, they said they lost to a team that came very prepared to Nokia. Dusko Aibanovic was ready for any game situation. Maccabi tried to put on the pressure in the first half, but Kakha broke it perfectly when Cstltovic hit some huge 3 pointers.
I didn't believe Kakha woulld be able to continue to shoot at such a high percentage from the outside throughout the whole game, but it happened even when he was in a tough atmosphere and situation to get a win. Coach Pini Gershon probably also did not believe that three shot percentages of Vitoria Itazno could continue, but he was wrong as their first 15 points came from outside the arch, lighting up a red light in the coach's mind.
Lior Eliyahu had an excellent game! He moved a lot, creating shooting situations for his teammates, he made some beautiful shots and played good defense, despite them trying to isolate him, Players like Alan Anderson did a great job preventing easy shots. Incidentally, Kakha won with Tiago Splitter, but it was very important factor in his ability to collapse the defense and manufacture a shot from outside and it states exactly what is missing for Maccabi
It should be noted that Guy Panini played a great game with 18 points, although it was just not enough. Good to see an Israeli player prove he can be an important factor at this level of basketball. Good for him.
But to return to the professional point, which is perhaps the most critical for Maccabi, and lack of a center, Chin who produced points from jnside the paint area at will. Even with Esme Fisher, Maccabi can'tt copete with strong teams such as Panatinakos, Olympia cos or Barcelona.
Alan Anderson insists on getting points by penetrating to the basket, but he must understand the game in Europe is very dense and he came again and again to the forest of players waiting for him in the paint. He has, to his defense, to rely more on his bullet 3 point shot from the outside, because he certainly knows how to do it, he needs to exploit the capabilities of its guards, Maccabi really needs a Center as Chin can actually shrink the presence of his opponent's defense, otherwise they will have difficulty handling any of the top 16 teams.
The temporary solution until they get a legit Center is to move the guards down to play post - to produce more points inside, and perhaps use more Yaniv Green who is an excellent guard and one who knows how to take a foul in order to help the team.
I really like Chuck Ayedson, a player gets to take care of the ball as much as possible, because he knows how to make the right decisions. I enjoyed it tonight.
Overall, I think this year's Maccabi team is just better teams from the others on two levels. They have tall forwards, quick guards who can cover all of the produced exchange - and roll, so Maccabi is very talented at positions 1 through 4. The problem for Coach Pinni is health, and they will not be able to reach their full potential when it comes to high levels of Euro-league basketball until they can address this issue.
I want to encourage Leora Elijah, I thought he made a good decision when he passed to Kakha Lboral. We talk about everything and I know it's not easy being away from home without family and friends. Clearly he has adjustments and difficulties to overcome , but he's a very talented player and I'm sure his coach will know how to give him more confidence.
Taken from "One" website
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