THE LIKES

I liked how Hapoel Jerusalem really put the clamps on Nes Ziona big time and gave up only 56 points to a pretty good offensive team and ateam that just beat Maccabi Tel Aviv and ran off a 5 game winning streak. But Willy Workman and Su Braimoh along with the rest of the Reds made sure to stymie Lior Lubin’s squad and holding their guards to brutal shooting percentages including Diante Garrett 4/14, Frank Bartley 5/17, Nimrod Tishman0/4 and Golan Gutt 5/12. Fantastic job by Yotam Halperin’s crew.

I liked how Hapoel Eilat and Israelis Roi Huber and Joaquin Szuchman went up to Hapoel Holon and will return back to the Red Sea city with a victory. That was a terrific job by Ariel Beit Halachmi’s team who had the entire squad from Bryon Allen and Justin Patton to Huber and Szuchman playing fabulous ball to knock off one of the league’s top teams.

I liked how Hapoel Tel Aviv really played what was a complete game in their win over Hapoel Gilboa Galil. James Young looked like the James Young of old, JP Tokoto did what he does best, newcomer Josh Owens was more than solid, but it was the performances of Gil Beni with 8 points and 8 assists in 32 minutes that was most impressive. Beni of course is still just 23 years old and has been working his way up the ladder after sometime at Gilboa Galil, however, with the Reds under head coach Danny Franco, he has taken a much bigger role which is great news for the Israeli.

I liked how Hapoel Galil Elion played Maccabi tooth and nail right down to the wire and should be very proud of their performance despite coming up a bit short. They had plenty of players who had terrific games from Chavaughn Lewis and Gaby Chachashvili and could have gotten a bit more out of Jonathan Stove and Isaiah Eisendorf. In order to beat Maccabi Tel Aviv you’ve got to have every player at the top of their game.

I liked that Bnei Herzliya stormed back after a brutal first quarter against Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion. Shawn Dawson, Chris Babb, Chinanu Onuaku, Quinton Hooker and Yair Kravetz has coach Oren Aharoni light a fire under their behinds and off they went playing superb ball. Kravetz was a +48 in the game which is a tremendous stat in itself while Onuaku constantly plays well and made yet another Sports Rabbi 3 stars of the week. But boy, that +48 from Kravetz is something else!

I liked how Hapoel Haifa pulled it together to come back from a mega deficit against Hapoel Beer Sheva and went on to take the win. That was superb play by Elad Hasin’s squad that saw four players finish in double digits including Kadeem Allen who on any given night can just light it up like no other in Israel.

I liked how Jake Cohen and Iftach Ziv came alive in money time to help Maccabi Tel Aviv snatch the overtime win at Hapoel Galil Elyon. Barak Peleg’s team did everything within their power to win the game save for a few plays down the stretch but couldn’t find away to play the full 45 minutes in this case.

THE DISLIKES

I disliked how Nes Ziona just couldn’t crack the Jerusalem defense but specifically if the guards couldn’t hit their shots why didn’t they get their big men more action in the paint as Tim Soares took a total of 2shots in 20 minutes, Simisola Shittu 3/7 and Tal Dunne 2/6. Somehow Nes Ziona needed to know that they had to get the ball inside.

I disliked everything that went on for Rishon Le’Zion. From Guy Goodes being tossed after basically begging for it and then the players just folding up shop like a cheap suit it was an utter embarrassment of a 30-point loss that wasn’t even that close. Goodes and the club parted ways the morning after the game and now Rishon will need to make sure they hire the right person to ensure that they don’t land up in the Leumit League next season because that is where they are headed right now.

I disliked how Holon went into the Eilat game as if they had already won the matchup. They came in poorly and let the visitors run them out of their won building. Just watching head coach Maurizio Buscaglia after the game was difficult as he had no answers whatsoever to the poor display his team had put on.

I disliked how Gilboa Galil just can’t seem to get it together. Guy Kaplan has won a number of games as in position to punch their ticket to the Israel State Cup quarterfinals, but can’t keep up any type of consistency. One game Sacha Killeya-Jones and Yotam Hanochi are great but London Perrantes and Ronnie Harrell aren’t and then vice versa. Must be frustrating to get things going for the Galilee team when they have been so consistently inconsistent.

I disliked how yet again Hapoel Beer Sheva blew a game that they should have easily won which is something the southern reds have done on so many occasions this season. After a terrific opening they allowed Hapoel Haifa to just chip away at the lead and then come all the way back to record the victory which is something that should have never, ever happened.