Hapoel Jerusalem are now 2-for-2 as they stuffed another cup into the trophy case thanks to an 89-84 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Winner Cup final. But not only are the capital city reds 2/2 in capturing hardware, they are also 2/2 in defeating Israel’s pair of Euroleague representatives with Yonatan Alon’s team having defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Super Cup final and the semifinals of the Winner Cup.

Jerusalem was the better team from the tip-off and all the way through the 40 minutes without a doubt as the controlled the pace of play, scored and also had arguably the best player in the in one Jared Harper. The diminutive guard did as he pleased time and time again, hitting one shot after the next whether it was from the midrange or long range and whether it was driving to the hoop for a layup or finding the open man, Harper did it all with a 33 point performance.

Harper proved to be unstoppable yet again as Dimitrios Itoudis and Co. didn’t have an answer in slowing the Auburn product down, forget about even stopping him.

The Hapoel Tel Aviv bench boss did congratulate Hapoel Jerusalem, but he also had his comments and complaints. From the game taking place at the Jerusalem Arena and not at a neutral site or Yad Eliyahu to the fact that Khadeen Carrington is a foreigner with an Israeli passport thereby not counting against the 5 import limit per game.

There were also injuries that the bench boss needed to deal with as well as a Euroleague game last week in Bosnia ahead of a pair more coming up in Sofia and Munich.

All of what Itoudis said in the post game press conference is true, there’s no doubt about that. But, the maestro also has an embarrassment of riches with a roster that includes close to 20 players of which 11 are foreigners and 8 are Israelis. Of course, in Israeli competitions, Itoudis is limited to using just 5 foreigners with up to 4 being allowed on the court at one time meaning one Sabra had to be on the floor at all times.

Yes, Hapoel Tel Aviv does have some injuries with their two best Israelis in Tomer Ginat and Yam Madar out to go along with Brazilian Bruno Caboclo, but nonetheless, there are plenty of other tools in Itoudis’s toolbox to choose from.

However, it seems that the real issue that Hapoel Tel Aviv is facing right now when they play in the domestic league or cups games is that many of the players are not used to playing with one another and being on the same side on the floor.

Ginat is by far the single lone Israeli to get any type of serious minutes in the Euroleague, it’s not even close with Guy Palatin having played 37 seconds in total and Bar Timor a grand total of 5.6 paltry clicks of the clock. Therefore, once you are using both Palatin and Timor along with Itay Segev and Iftach Ziv, many of the imports are just not used to playing with them.

The lineups are unfamiliar and that was on full display in the Winner Cup final.

Tyler Ennis, Jonathan Motley, Tai Odiase and Ish Wainright are the only three imports who have played at least 3 of the 4 Israeli league games which is the only competition that the four Israelis above would be playing any type of significant minutes in.

In the Winner Cup Final, of the four imports in the prior paragraph, only one was dressed for the contest and that was Wainright. Antonio Blakeney played in 2 games, Elijah Bryant featured in one while Vasilije Micic and Dan Oturu were playing in an Israeli game for the first time since September.

In essence, perhaps the question needs to be asked if less is more?

There’s no question that the Euroleague games are clearly much more important than any Israeli games right now. Itoudis knows that and so do the players. Winning a continental clash is clearly more critical than a Winner Cup final game against Hapoel Jerusalem. No one needs to be sold on that, however, it’s clear that Hapoel Tel Aviv still has weaknesses due to the rules of the game in the Holy Land which evened up the playing field very nicely.

Jerusalem is a team that not only has spent last season together save for a few players but are familiar, very familiar with one another and that was clear as day in the Winner Cup final.

Harper along with Carrington, Yovel Zoosman, Roi Huber and Austin Wiley played together least season as did Justin Smith who played sparingly due to an injury. Add to that Josiah Jordan James who played a phenomenal game with not just 8 points in 30 minutes but fine defense throughout and you’ve got a team that can play as a team with the same personnel in the EuroCup and the Israeli competitions.

It’s that simple to see.

Will Jerusalem be able to top both Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv when they meet again in the upcoming months whether it’s in league play or State Cup action not to mention the playoffs which begin in May? That remains to be seen, but they will without a question be right up there with the other two clubs.

Jerusalem perhaps needs to make some cosmetic changes and adjust the roster around the edges which is something that ownership led by Matan Adelson will most probably do if deemed necessary. But until that time comes, Jerusalem can keep chugging along in both leagues and see what the next move may be be in order to strengthen the squad to compete with the best the country has to offer.

But for right now, it was simple to see that less is more and Jerusalem reaped the benefits.