Ben Saraf returned from injury as Ulm fell to its first home loss of the season, 80-72 to Bahcesehir in Eurocup action. Saraf, who was called up to Israel National Team for the first time despite talk that he might miss the window due to the injury was in the starting lineup and understandably looked relatively rusty at first when, along collecting some assists also turned over the ball.

He shot well from the inside in the second quarter when he scored 6 points, but he was not accurate enough when he took over in money time, in a game where he missed all of his 3-pointer attempts. Saraf finished with 10 points (4/10 from 2, 0/4 from 3 and 2/2 from the line), 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 rebounds (1 offensive), 1 steal, 4 fouls, 1 foul drawn and 2 in efficiency rating to go with a -10 in the plus/minus index in 27 minutes of play.

While he showed some positive sparks in his play he was also not his best in his team’s defeat and was given a rating of 5 from The Sports Rabbi website.

Following the game, Ulm Head Coach Ty Harrelson spoke about the Israeli, “I’ve seen him play better”, smiled Harrelson. “I think it’s tough when you’re out to try to get your rhythm back. I thought he pressed and tried to make plays, and there were a couple of times that he should of played with the team a little bit more and make his team make the game easier for him, but at the end of the day he’s a young guy coming off an injury. Decent stat line, 10 points, 4 assists, but I thought a couple of times in the crunch time he forced it a little bit, and thee way JJ and Alfonso were shooting the ball I felt that we should of tried to find them.

“But that’s part of the learning process and part of being a young player, it’s something we can talk about and improve as the season goes along. There have been times in games where Ben made those plays, but I think like you said, coming off of the injury it’s tough to put that kind of pressure on yourself to make the plays especially when other guys are hot. I’m glad that he played and that he’s back and healthy, we’ll get a couple of practices in before Sunday and I’m sure that we’ll see a much improved performance.”

The bottom line is that it’s good that Saraf is back in action and there’s no doubt that he will look even better as time goes by. He has scored in double-digits in each of his EuroCup games and is averaging 13.7 points, 5.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 4.5 fouls drawn and 14.2 efficiency in 27.2 minutes per game. Just before the national team break, Ulm will host Göttingen in the German league this Sunday (16:00), and we really, really, can’t wait!