Is it possible that Maccabi Tel Aviv never had to look further than outside of the friendly confines of Yad Eliyahu to find an answer to their prayers after Alex Poythress went down with what looks to be a season ending injury?

After what Jarell Martin did on Thursday night in the Yellow & Blue’s 83-70 win over Alba Berlin, it certainly looks as if Oded Katash really doesn’t need to bring in a replacement for the Kentucky big man. With 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal for an efficiency rating of 27 in 31 minutes of action, Martin looked to have been just what the doctor ordered for the Israeli club as they moved to 8-7 after 15 games in Euroleague play.

Martin, who came off of the bench had shown flashes all season long of the potential that was aching to break out with double digits in wins over Milano in Italy and at home against Olympiacos, but it was in Germany where the LSU product finally had his coming out party, especially from beyond the arc.

With a quartet of triples in seven attempts, Martin was able to show what he could really do from deep as his 3-point season average bumped up to 34.4% while his 7 boards, also his personal best of the campaign moved his average to 3.2 rebounds in the 14 games that he appeared in.

It’s never easy to come into the Euroleague and adjust seamlessly despite Martin having played in the NBA, the G-League and in Australia. The physicality, speed, aggression and determination of the players is quite different in the Euroleague than any of those other competitions as each one has their own unique flavor.

Of course, in Israel and at Maccabi, the word patience isn’t part of the local lexicon and very quickly if one doesn’t play as they had hoped he would or that was expected of them, they could quickly find their way out the door and on the next flight out of the country. How many times has that happened in the Holy Land?

Yes, there were times this season that questions swirled around the future of Martin. Sure he scored 25 points against Nes Ziona in the Israeli league opener, but that’s not why Maccabi brings in foreigners; they are brought in to produce in the Euroleague, as plain and simple as that.

In his first 7 continental clashes, Martin scored a grand total of 25 points having gone 2/9 from outside of the arc and collected 18 rebounds as Katash pleaded for patience as the sharks were out for prey. Since then the Baton Rouge, Louisiana native has scored 66 points in his past seven clashes along with 9 triples in 22 attempts and grabbed 27 boards as both his percentages and confidence climb up the ladder.

But one of the most important features of Martin’s offensive prowess is how he can hurt another team. Whether it’s from the corners or the elbows, on the inside or just as to how he sets picks and knows where to move and find the right spot on the floor to be effective, the former first round pick of the Memphis Grizzlies seems to know where and when to be time and time again. He has been able to stretch the floor very nicely and that will be a huge advantage for Maccabi since that was something Poythress was unable to do.

Martin has also been able to adapt on the defensive side of the ball with a fine understanding of how to cause problems for his opponents while only collecting 2.1 fouls per game.

Katash seems to have found a solid rotation of players and ones that he feels that he can count on. Jake Cohen has been in the starting lineup over the past few games, Roman Sorkin is coming off the bench where he provides a ton of energy as well as a different look than Josh Nebo plus Bonzie Colson can play either the small or power forward positions which gives the Maccabi bench boss a number of options to choose from to use in his front court. Add into the mix Jarell Martin and the yellow-and-blue are in good shape.

Sometimes less is more and that maybe the case for Maccabi Tel Aviv. If Katash does bring in another player, there will be a learning curve right off the bat and that will take some time which could mess up the current ebb and flow of the club at both ends of the court. All five of these forwards can play more minutes without a doubt especially both Martin and Cohen who had not been used much until just about a month ago.

Martin over the past seven contests has played almost 20 minutes a game and prior to that he had only checked in for roughly 13 minutes, so Katash need not worry about finding a player to pick up the slack and hole that Poythress left behind. Plus with Maccabi taking two of there road games over the past two week stretch, why mess around with something that seems to be working?

Add into the mix his pleasant demeanor, team first attitude and just all around friendliness and it seems that the decision to bring in another forward is a no brainier. There is no need.

However, the real test for Katash, Martin and the rest of the big boys will be the upcoming pair of games, at home against two time defending Euroleague champions Anadolu EFES and then last season’s finalist Real Madrid in Spain the following week. As Maccabi hangs around a playoff spot, these two games will be pivotal for the yellow-and-blue as they will want to see and perhaps need to see how they stack up against two of teh top teams before a starch of three games against sub .500 clubs.

A final decision on the need to bring in another forward hinges on these two games because if Maccabi has any design of going deep into the Euroleague season, this will be the best test. However, if Martin can continue to play as he has over the past month plus, then the discussion becomes moot.

They say that every game in the Euroleague matters. That couldn’t be any truer for Maccabi as we hit the new year.