Hapoel Jerusalem couldn’t have played a better game, exactly when they needed to as they demolished Maccabi Tel Aviv once again at the Arena in the capital city to the tune of 101-84. The Reds had hit a wall over the past few weeks as injuries and lack of depth caught up to them both in EuroCup play and in Israeli league action.

Yonatan Alon certainly deserves plenty of kudos as he has been able to get way more out of the squad he has in his hands than anyone would have expected especially after losing two of his big men in Austin Wiley and Justin Smith as well as other valuable parts in Nimrod Levi and most recently Or Cornelius. Add to that list the loss of Speedy Smith who left the club for Turk Telekom last month and it’s been one blow after the next.

But as mentioned, one has to give credit where credit is due to Alon for being able to keep his team afloat with a 7-5 record in continental competition and a 9-2 record in the domestic league which puts them in first place overall.

Not bad.

The win over Maccabi Tel Aviv was one that none of the experts would have predicted based on how Jerusalem had been playing of late as well as how the yellow-and-blue reacted after a Euroleague double week defeat a few weeks ago which was followed up by a win over Hapoel Tel Aviv.

However, that’s not how things ended up going down as the Reds came out pounding away at a fragile Maccabi and took the bull by the horns with points early and often sending the fans into utter delirium in the stands with joy.

“When you have the best crowd in the country, this is what happens. It’s very simple,” Alon began. “A lot of things worked in our game plan, we controlled the contest for the most part. We caught them when they were just exhausted, but you also need to know how to do it. In my opinion, these moments just make me dream about what would have happened if we had been with our fans the entire season in Europe as well. I can’t explain playing on the road in empty arenas. I want to say thank you to the crowd that pushed us to this victory.”

The fans had actually been extremely critical of the team and went to the social networks criticizing the owner, general manger, coach, press officer, janitor, you name it. The blame was being thrown around like it was going out of style and no one thought that the game against Maccabi was going to change their luck. But no matter, when you win one of the marquee games of the season, everyone falls right back in line from the players to the supporters and championship aspirations rise to the top.

“I believed and I believe in our players,” Alon added. “We experienced mental ups and downs when we had to go and play in places with no fans and we had to try and create our own energy out of nothing. We are a good team and it all depends on us. The way I look at it, it always depends on Hapoel Jerusalem. If we play right, good things will happen”

One of the stars of the show was captain Yovel Zoosman who made his return to action after having been out injured and dropped 17 points in the win. Zoos understood full well that playing against Maccabi was not just any game for both the players and the fans.

“I believe that a victory in the Classico is not just another victory. We’re happy and we’ll celebrate now, but tomorrow is a new day. We were in the midst of a rough period with a series of losses that made us think about what’s wrong. Hopefully, this victory can lead us down a new path. A win like this in the Arena with 8,000 fans was great and we hope that next time there will be 11,000. The players understood the magnitude of the situation and there are players here who were here in previous seasons, so they know what it’s like to play in the Arena against Maccabi.”

However, there is no question that the only way Jerusalem will keep being able to compete at the level they did against Maccabi is to have quality of depth on their roster. There are no shortcuts for any team and that includes the reds.

Thankfully they have a superstar in Jared Harper who can make something out of nothing and has been able to pace the team since the season began. I dare say that without a player like Harper and who knows where Jerusalem would be this season. It’s quite amazing how important and influential one player can be to a team.

“I think Harper is unstoppable,” Zoosman said. “He is the best player in the league and he will also be the MVP of the EuroCup. He has no ego at all and it’s just quite amazing, I am very happy that he is part of the team.”

While Jerusalem has kept finding replacements for players that have been injured or left the club, Alon is still struggling to keep the team’s head from going underwater.

“The injured players are starting to come back, but I still think that an injury brings more injuries because the burden is passed on from one player to another. I still want to have 12 players but we also have to remember that when we bring someone in, it takes two weeks to get them up to speed. Even if we want to sign a player, the situation in the market is not that simple. If there is someone who can come in and upgrade us or do something special, we have to go for it. If it is just to say that we brought someone in, well then that is really an issue that we don’t want to even discuss.”