Ben Saraf and Ulm get back on track with win over Rasta Vechta

Oct 27, 2024 | Holyland Hoops

Ben Saraf and Ulm defeated Rasta Vechta 85-76 at home and moved their German league record to 4-1 good for first place in the Bundesliga.

Throughout the season, Moshe Halickman, who has been covering Ben Saraf since 2021 for the Hebrew side of the Sports Rabbi website will now analyze the Israeli’s performances from a different point of view and from a fun angle in English too! But to find out what his final rating was you’ll need to read all the way until the end of the column.

Strong start
Saraf had a dream start as he was in the starting lineup and played perfectly off the bat, so let’s get into the details of his game.

Rebounding
Let’s begin with something relatively small, but important. We don’t always see Saraf making a significant contribution on the rebounding side of the game but this time he collected a trio of them. While this isn’t a huge amount by any stretch of the imagination but it’s still significant for a point guard to grab three of them. In fact, in the opening minute Saraf had already gotten a pair of them which was good to see.

And-1 after dribbling coast-to-coast
After grabbing one of his rebounds, Saraf continued all the way down the sideline with the ball and scored while being fouled (he scored his free throw). This was most definitely a play that we see at the highest levels in the NBA.

Dunking
Saraf put down some monstrous dunks, one after the other in the first quarter. The first one saw him penetrate into the paint and slam the ball home while the second one came when he cut inside got the ball and put it down strong. Saraf showed once again that he is a high-level athlete, if anyone still had any doubts. Showtime for the home fans.

Right hand
Later in the game, Saraf registered another bucket and a foul where he only dribbled with his right hand and ended with his left as it’s clear and a positive sign that he’s looking to improve one of his weaknesses in real time.

3-pointers
Saraf has a successful shooting night from beyond the arc. His first triple was a from the left hand corner and was wide open while the second was a step back in the fourth quarter. Shortly thereafter, Saraf attempted another 3-pointer so going 2/3 from deep is a number that he would be happy to record every game.

Dishing
Saraf turned the ball over four times and had only a pair of assists but he could have had many more had his teammates knocked down their shots. He dished out some beautiful balls, but what stood out were the ones that didn’t end up with baskets on the other end especially in the third quarter.

Defense
As with many of his games, we saw both positives and negatives in Saraf’s defense. On the one hand, there were plenty of steal attempts, deflections and forcing poor shots were great but on the other hand there were fouls and being beaten by the player he had been defending.

Cheering his teammates on
Saraf showed great enthusiasm and passion for the game as he always does and cheered his teammates on including Noa Essengue and Thomas Klepeisz as he jumped in joy when he hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

Saraf’s Rating – 9
This was a game that began perfectly for Saraf. Of course he did make mistakes here or there kater on, but he was terrific and finished with 18 points (4/8 from 2, 2/3 from 3 and 4/6 from the free throw line) in 22 minutes. The bottom line is that after he didn’t play in the loss to Gran Canaria in the EuroCup due to a minor injury, he led Ulm to such an important victory after five consecutive losses across all competitions (including an exhibition game against Portland). The last league game Saraf played was a huge defeat to Oldenburg on what was a tough day for the guard. Ulm and Saraf are back on track and are now in first place in the German league standings. Saraf’s next game will be at home on Wednesday (20:00) against Trento and we really, really, can’t wait.

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