Nes Ziona plays Iraklis Friday night at 20:00 for a chance to advance to the FIBA Europe Cup Final Four. This would be an incredible feat by Brad Greenberg’s squad should they be able to continue on in the competition after disposing of Kyiv earlier in the week in the Round of 16 win or go home game that saw Nes Ziona take the victory. The key for Greenberg’s team has been fantastic contributions from all four import players, Braian Angola, Jerome Meyinsse, Wayne Selden and of course Patrick Miller. But last game also saw Israelis Nimrod Levi, Tal Dunne and Lior Carreira take center stage as well. Dunne is a machine on the court and in any game he could easily chalk up close to a triple double, Levi looks like he has returned to himself after being on the sidelines for an extended period of time and Carreira who has stepped up time and time again in Europe. “We are playing one of the highest quality team’s in the tournament,” Carreira said ahead of the game. “We have to keep up the pace we had from the game against Kyiv, play together and play tough defense. We’ve done a good job so far but we aren’t satisfied as we want to get into the Final Four. We believe in ourselves and I hope that at the end of the night we can make our fans very happy back at home.” Perhaps if Nes Ziona makes it to the Final 4 they will even be able to host it. That would also be incredible.

Speaking of incredible, how about James Young’s performance for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the win over Hapoel Beer Sheva and Akil Mitchell for Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion in their victory against Maccabi Haifa. Both players checked in with 27 points in their respective games and along with the fans helped their squads to very much needed wins. Young was making his second appearance for Danny Franco’s squad and his presence was a massive upgrade for the Reds who have been languishing near the relegation zone of the standings. With the former Celtics first round draft pick, Hapoel will be able to create some separation and begin to move up the ladder. “What a great atmosphere,” began Young. “We had a few good practices over the past few days and that is what brought the victory. The fans really helped us and the gave us really good energy that we needed and that is what won the game for us.”

As for Akil Mitchell, the Rishon forward has seen so many players come in and out of Guy Goodes’s revolving door, he along with Darryl Monroe are what remains from the start of the campaign. With Jeremy Pargo and Jamil Wilson on the roster as well, Rishon is beginning to come together once again as a team. It’s strange to think that last month in February, Trey Lewis and Isaiah Taylor helped Rishon punch their ticket to the State Cup Finals with a win over Jerusalem. But so is life in European basketball and basketball in general. “I’m proud of the guys. The fans were great and it was tough to play 7 months without them,” Mitchell said.”

Finally, what is going on a Hapoel Jerusalem? 104 points conceded at home to a very good Hapoel Eilat team, poor defense, rough play all around as catch Dainius Adomaitis keeps saying that the guys practice so well. However, when it comes to game time, Jerusalem can’t seem to pull it together. Earlier in the week at Bnei Herzliya, the Reds were coasting but then Sharon Drucker’s squad turned it on and almost came back from over 30 points down. Things are tough at Jerusalem and they are hopeful that with an extra ball handler in Ray McCallum they’ll get back on track. “It’s horrible to lose in front of our home fans and also give up 104 points,” Adam Ariel explained. “It’s not okay and this can’t happen. We have to work harder and improve because we still have what to play for.”

On the other side of the court, what can you say? Hapoel Eilat and Ariel Beit Halachmi’s team is really, really good. Casey Prather said after the game that they are the best and you know what? He’s right. They have played the most consistent ball all season long.