The big question heading into the Israel State Cup semifinal game between Hapoel Jerusalem and Bnei Herzliya was if Reds big man Austin Wiley was going to be listed to play and how effective he would be after having been on the shelf for a number of months.

Well he was certainly registered and ended up being very, very effective as the game wore on, but he definitely had a rocky beginning to the game that the Reds ended up winning 89-86 in what was a classic back-and-forth matchup that went right down to the wire.

Jerusalem Head Coach no doubt had a tough decision to make after having seen his team play solid basketball in Europe with forward Jeremy Morgan in the lineup as he provided solid and intelligent play on both sides of the floor and had been an integral part to the club’s success. Wiley had been out since October as crazy as it sounds after having played in the team’s first five EuroCup games. To just insert the center back into the lineup after having been absent for close to four months takes some big cajones or as Andrea Trichieri once told me “Los Huevos”.

And that’s what Alon had to make the move, “Los Heuvos”.

After having played 14+ minutes in their game against Turk Telekom, which resulted in 2 points (1/3 shooting), 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 turnovers, Wiley was rusty like an old bike chain. No one would have questioned Alon should he have kept Morgan in the lineup.

But Alon decided together with his staff to make the bold move and run with the player that when he signed was going to be the centerpiece of the squad for the upcoming season and beyond.

With that, Wiley entered the contest with 5:42 remaining in the first quarter and within less than two minutes picked up a pair of fouls that sent him right back to the pine until 4:21 left in the first half. In just under 3 minutes of action, the big man began to get into the game with an offensive rebound, dunk, took a defensive board followed by another offensive one, drew a foul went ½ from the line and was subbed out with 1:39 remaining in the second quarter.

That was really just a warmup for Wiley as he was critical down the stretch for Hapoel, entering the game with 2:34 left in the final frame where he recorded a steal, drew a foul, went 0/2 from the charity stripe, grabbed a defensive board, drew another foul and went 2/2 from the line before exiting the court with 12 seconds to go.

There is no question that Wiley was worth the risk.

It was a very difficult and we spoke about it and Morgan is great and he has been terrific, I want him to be our anchor and the team is built on the 4 as Israelis, so we had played in that position, I’m happy that I made the decision that I did.

“Registering Austin was a very difficult decision and that’s nothing to take away from Jeremy Morgan who has been superb,” Alon said to The Sports Rabbi’s question. “At the end of the day, I want him to be the anchor. The way the team is built in a way that we have Israelis and other players that can play in Morgan’s position. I am happy with the decision that we made.”

“There are things that Austin brings to the table and does so in every situation and there are things that need to be worked on and we don’t have practice time. It takes hours of practice to be able to execute plays and he doesn’t create scoring chances for himself. There’s not that much time to work with him. He needs to just get into the game and grab rebounds, pass the ball out of the block and with time he will improve on that as well.”

Jared Harper, who once again earned kudos of his teammates with a spectacular second half performance had a tough first half getting to his spots as Herzliya were very physical with him and limited him to “just” 24 points over the course of the game. Opposing head coach Yehu Orland said that was a good job because he knows full well that the diminutive guard could have gone off for 30+ points and controlled the pace of play, so yes, his players did do a good job containing him. But what will be super interesting coming up will be how Harper will get the most out of Wiley, his former Auburn teammate.

Harper knows full well what Wiley can do for a team and complimented him for his fine play in money time to help Jerusalem to the win.

“Austin’s effort in the last 2-3 minutes of the game, couple of steals and a couple of rebounds, being able to make those free throws at the end, that’s why we were able to win the game. Happy to have him back in the picture after being out for a little bit, we need his presence and he does a lot of huge things for us, glad to have him back.”

The bottom line is that right now, Yonatan Alon can be very content with where his team is and the chance that he has to bring Hapoel Jerusalem a 3rd straight Israel State Cup in the club’s home arena on Thursday night and whoever it is, well, it doesn’t matter.

“As far as I’m concerned, the trophy is ours right now and another team we need to take it from us but we need to play properly. Take the right shots, make the right decisions and that’s how we win games. Anyone who we will face on Thursday in the final is welcome to come and play against us.”