Israeli basketball fans got just what the doctor ordered, an Israeli Classico between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem in the State Cup final and it doesn’t get any better than this. When the semifinals were set, everyone [perhaps not Nes Ziona and Hapoel Haifa] from the fans, hoop aficionados and the Basketball Association wanted to see these two basketball powers in the country tipping off against one another on Thursday in the capital city.

Both teams struggled to get into the championship game with Nes Ziona causing some minor trouble for Maccabi and Hapoel Haifa taking Jerusalem to the limits, but at the end of the day both teams passed their respective tests and will now do battle for the mid-season title that will be on the table.

While the two teams faced each other once in league play back in November when Hapoel clipped Maccabi 80-75 in a terrific tilt at Yad Eliyahu, both squads will look a bit different in composition this time around.

For Oded Katash’s crew, Lorenzo Brown is back and better than ever as he conducted the Maccabi orchestra to perfection in the win over Nes Ziona.

Over on Aleksandar Dzikic’s team, everyone were treated to a terrific surprise as 18-year old Noam Yaacov who is coming of age right before our very eyes, took advantage of the opportunity he was given and showed that he’s got ice in his veins under pressure as he helped the Reds to a comeback win over Haifa.

Maccabi’s Brown, who is fresh off of signing a 3-year contract extension returned to action after suffering minor injury and earned MVP honors as he dropped 19 points, added 9 assists, grabbed 6 rebounds and stole a pair of balls in the 85-73 victory.

The point guard was not only superb, he made everyone around him that much better especially Josh Nebo who greatly benefited by having the floor general back by his side. The big man suffered over the past couple of weeks on both ends of the floor and had all kinds of issues scoring easy as pie baskets that he was used to when Brown served them up on a silver platter. 16 points, 11 boards and the highest efficiency rating on the team with 31 and one can see how much better Nebo is when Brown is on the court.

“I missed him [Lorenzo Brown] and playing with Zo makes the game a lot easier for me. I’m happy to have him back,” a very content Nebo said following the game.

So in essence, Maccabi not only got Brown back but they also now have an active Nebo as well and it was like a two-for-one deal for the yellow-and-blue.

In the only game that the two sides played against each other, Brown was not dressed and Nebo was infective as ever with just 2 points and 2 rebounds.

“It’s very possible that this is the case with a connection between Lorenzo and the bigs like Josh Nebo who was dominant on both sides of the floor and had 11 rebounds as well,” Katash remarked.

A happy Nebo is a very good Nebo.

The bottom line is for Maccabi, Brown is just so dominant at his position and is head and shoulders above the other point guards that are plying the trade in the Holy Land. With Wade Baldwin at his side, it’s possible that they can be the best 1-2 punch in Israel. When Baldwin was running the show solo the past few games, there was plenty of responsibility on his shoulders and with Brown back, that will for sure take some of that pressure off.

Katash for one was very content to get back of his guards on the floor together once again, “I missed having seen Lorenzo and Wade playing together, we waited for some time to get Lorenzo back onto the court.”

Brown, Baldwin and Nebo will most probably be joined by Jarell Martin and Bonzie Colson. Is it possible that Jalen Adams will play in place of Martin? Sure, but it’s unlikely unless Katash wants to really try and play with a guard heavy lineup and have them work their magic against Jerusalem.

But all in all, the one player who is happiest of all getting back into the swing of things is Brown himself who knew very well that the key to success versus Nes Ziona and most every other team is limiting the opposing point guard.

“It feels good to get back and I tried to get back into my pace, play with my teammates and win the game. This is a team game and we will continue to improve. We had to deal with DJ Cooper in this game and we did the job.”

While Maccabi was able to keep Cooper at bay, they will now have to possibly contend against another guard in one Noam Yaacov who burst onto the scene in Jerusalem’s comeback victory over Haifa.

The ASVEL Villeurbanne property has shown moments of brilliance in the limited minutes that he has played in thus far for Hapoel Jerusalem, but it’s clear that the potential is there, and it was that potential that Dzikic threw into the fire to help his team win a must-win game.

Was Yaacov in Dzikic’s plans all along against the Carmel Reds as he scored 11 points, 9 of which came from the charity stripe including 6 in crunch time with the game hanging in the balance for Jerusalem? Probably not. But he had to mix things up and didn’t have a choice when he saw his team in an 8-point hole at the end of the third quarter.

Up until that point, Yaacov had played a bit over 6 minutes, but those 6 minutes were crucial for the guard to get a taste of the game and a feel for the court in what were his first minutes on against Israeli competition.

Yaacov played almost the entire final frame oozing with confidence, drive and desire. He played with no fear, one of the hardest attributes that a young player needs to get a hold of. Perhaps being young isn’t such a big deal in this case as he was able to just go in and do what he needed to; play tough defense, drive to the basket and hit his free throws one after another. It was like he was putting a shiny quarter into a slot machine with each basket coming up all cherries.

Dzikic may not like it when Yaacov is called youngster as he made sure to tell those gathered at the posit game press conference, “Stop calling him young, what does it mean? He’s in the lockerroom with the senior team and if he’s 18, 28, 38 they are all the same on the floor.”

In fact, the Serbian bench boss who is reported to have been offered a long term deal didn’t even know if Yaacov would be able to play and above all, was not happy to say the least that his “veteran” players weren’t able to do the job.

“He didn’t practice the last few days. With all due respect, Lee [Levi Randolph], Speedy [Smith], Or [Cornelius], Zach [Hankins] all those guys in the paint have to be better.”

Haifa were very, very close to sending Jerusalem packing and Sharon Drucker’s team had a very, very good chance to win the game. With about 15 seconds remaining in the contest Anthony Hickey took the ball up court as everyone held their breath waiting for the guard to take the “winner shot” which he did when he sent a dagger right though Hapoel Holon in the quarterfinals. However, he opted to give a wide open Will Rayman in the corner the chance to take the biggest and most important shot of the game but came up short as the ball rang off of the rim and Jerusalem polished off the game.

On one hand it was strange to see Hickey give up the ball, on the other Rayman was as wide open as the Atlantic Ocean. The guard didn’t have any second thoughts after the contest.

“There was a lot going in my mind on that possession. I trust my teammates, Will was open and he had a great opportunity and that is what I took. It was good shot and he was open. Jerusalem messed up their coverage. I’ll live with it as I could have ended up having a worse shot and I went with my gut feeling and that’s fine.”

Hickey continued, “Give Jerusalem credit they came out played their butts off and we didn’t get rebounds on the last few possessions and we lost our big men to fouls. It was difficult to guard Yaacov, he was effective on both ends of the court and that is how you win games. We tip our cap to him and he led his team, we give him credit and Jerusalem.”

Israeli veteran Oz Blayzer also spoke about what he saw from Yaacov in the game and offered his thoughts if he was part of the original game plan.

“He plays with incredible confidence, he’s talented and I believe he has a great future. Right now we are enjoying and benefiting from his play.

“That is the greatness of the coach, to know how to read the game and understand what is needed. Segev also came into the game for the second time in a row and changed it up which is very similar the last game we played. He was able to put down that crucial dunk and give us the lead. We will take the win, we could have played much better but now our sights are on Thursday.”

Hankins who was incredible for Jerusalem and without his 23 points and 10 rebounds it is very unlikely that Jerusalem would have won the game, understands how his team dodged a massive bullet and that Yaacov was a part of that.

“We came out lackluster and that has to stop. Our bread and butter is our defense and we have to get better at that. We have to be better, it’s awesome we won. There were a lot of 50/50 balls that we should have gotten and we could have lost, but my in heart I said we were going to win and there was no other option; we had to win and we had to go with that.”

“When we picked him [Yaacov] up we were excited, but we can’t rely on an 18 year old to save us. He hit some big free throws but we have to pick it up and stay grounded and know that this could have slipped through our fingers. We have to be better.”

There is no question Jerusalem will have to be better, especially against a well stocked Maccabi Tel Aviv team that is gunning for their second title of the season with the Winner Cup preseason tournament already in their trophy case.

But with Jerusalem playing on their home court and perhaps with a young gun in Yaacov who the fans feted as a civic hero, Maccabi can’t take winning this cup for granted.

“It’s part of the character of this team,” Yaacov said following the game. “You can see that we will battle and not give up and that is what helped us win this game. Hankins had the biggest part in this, grabbed rebounds and was dominant in the paint.

“I didn’t expect that response [from the fans] but it was something that I needed to do in order to continue to develop. it’s just the semifinal and we have the final on Thursday. It’s for the Cup and we will now begin to prepare for that.”