Men at work

Maccabi Haifa suffers from the beginning of the season from lack of appreciation, caused by its medium offensiveness. The fact is that this is the only Israeli team that plays defense in European level – as far for the physicality and the coordination – doesn't give it enough credit
Date: 11/05/2009 | Publisher: Maccabi Heat Haifa - Official Site



Ma'ariv sports

Monday, May 11, 2009

by :Aviv Lavi

taken from : Ma'ariv

Long playoff series are the real basketball, because they separate the men from the boys. In fact, why insult the boys: when it's needed to meet every 3 days the same faces and elbows, when each game is important and more pressuring than its previous and at the same time the legs are heavier, it's becoming clear that got a spine. This is exactly the time when teams with sponge personality, as Bnei Hasharon and Ashkelon, go home, and good.

A moment before the playoff Bnei Hasharon still dreamt to all of a sudden connect and realize the tremendous talent it had on the paper, but the miracle didn't happen. All along the season Hasharon didn't make it to put together more than 10 straight minutes of worthy basketball, and there are things who's too late to begin in May.

Maccabi Haifa suffers from the beginning of the season from lack of appreciation, caused by its medium offensiveness. The fact is that this is the only Israeli team that plays defense in European level – as far for the physicality and the coordination – doesn't give it enough credit. Already in the beginning of the summer it was crowned as the next Holon, and in a very non typical way to the Israeli sports it knew how to take the pressure and the expectations, with Cup Final and Final 4. Haifa was one Tolbert's crazy basket far away from the cup without Doron Perkins, and knew to get out of a deep crisis in the 2nd round and from a delay of 1-0 VS Hasharon. Guy Gudes is the 1st one to admit. There's no favorite in the 1st half final.

Haifa and Gilboa winnings stood up yesterday a common white and blue denominator: an Israeli that besides critical points, contributed also a defense extermination of a key player: Moshe Mizrahi on Kuki Belcher, Gal Makel on Flores. In general, in the 2nd half of the season I'm trying to find weak spots at Makel, and nothing. Most of the Israeli players remind the joke about the cups – one can write and one can read; one can score and one can throw, one shoots 3's and one goes in excellent. Makel is from the rare kind that brings the entire package, including defense.

At the edges of the Final 4, in Natanya the going up a league was celebrated one year late. Natanya got all the details to become a significant factor in the premier league. If Haifa was the new Holon, from Natanya is the new Haifa. Who said that the Israeli basketball doesn't have continuance.