Hapoel Holon tips off against JDA Dijon on Wednesday (19:00) as they look to punch their ticket to the Top 8 of the Champions League and head in the quarterfinals from first place which would give the purples home court advantage as they look to reach European Glory.

However, Guy Goodes’s squad will need to beta a French team that has already gotten the better of the Israeli side or else they will need to rely on the other Group I result between Galatasaray and first place Ludwigsburg which could even see Holon eliminated from postseason play with a defeat. In essence this is a do or die game as Holon currently finds themselves in second place in their Round of 16 group with a record of 3-2 but do control their own destiny holding the tie-breaker with Ludwigsburg having defeated the Germans twice both at home and on the road.

Over the past number of years, Holon has been in this same situation and in fact they were almost knocked out of the competition a month ago but Goodes was able to lead his team to victories over Besiktas with their backs against the wall. In that best of three series, Goodes had just taken over the helm from Maurizio Buscaglia and was already in an 0-1 hole but was able to win twice in Turkey and then back in Israel to keep the dream alive.

While Holon is facing a similar challenge right now, Goodes know that his team will need to be on the ball so to speak both physically and mentally, “Our preparation from a mental standpoint has been very good. We have been going through a tough time recently with games almost every day and we had to make sure we contained our energy. Our 5 on 5 in practice has been very short so we can bring the energy needed to the games themselves.”

Veteran forward and Holon Captain also spoke about the matchup in front of his club, “It’s exciting to be here and we have waited a long time for this game. We have worked very hard to get to this decisive game which is at home. A win here will give us home court advantage in the Top 8 but this is a game that is 40 minutes against a very good team.”

Adam Smith who is coming off an excellent Israeli League game where he scored 20 points including a pair of triples to help the club seal the win over Hapoel Beer Sheva has scored in double digits in 7 of the 9 Champions League games that he has played good for a 12.2 average per game. The guard who joined the team a few months ago has had numerous MVP performances and always seems to raise his level of play when his team needs him most.

“Adam is a player with a ton of ability,” Pnini began. “He saved us a number of times this season and transcended the game. He can score and create baskets just from his pure abilities and this is what we need from him. Every player needs to do what he knows how to do best. He knows how to score and that is what we need from him.”

Goodes didn’t see Smith as being the key to the game since he has a number of players who can take the bull by the horns and score points at will, “Every time we play it could be one player or another such as Tyrus McGee or Chris Johnson but we really have to put an emphasis on turnovers. If we can take care of the ball we will be in good shape.”

Despite having fallen to Dijon away 78-66 in the opening game of the Round of 16, Holon has also learned what they will need to do to ensure that they don’t find themselves on the wrong end of the result once again.

“Dijon is a team that presses well and recently defeated ASVEL,” Goodes said. “This game will be different than the last one. They were very aggressive in the third quarter which made it tough for us but we are expecting this now.”

Pnini also commented on the previous meeting between the two teams, “We saw parts of the last game and there was plenty that we need to improve against their defense and how to read plays. We the enrgy from our fans hopefully we will be able to be more aggressive.”

While Holon did come back and knock out Besiktas, the club has only recently been able to win decisive games which included a key victory over Cholet last season. However, prior to that Holon was still going through some growing pains with tough defeats at the hands of Lietkabelis and Nanterre.

“I believe that as a club, we are going through a process,” Pnini noted. “A few tears ago we played Nanterre in this type of game and we couldn’t handle the situation. But as the years have gone by we have gained experience and that is what will help us against Dijon.”