What’s going through Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Oded Katash’s mind when Wade Baldwin throws the ball away and perhaps the game with 3.2 seconds remaining in the game and his team is up by a single point, 94-93?

“A lot of things,” the Yellow & Blue bench boss chuckled when he spoke to The Sports Rabbi at the post game press conference at La Fonteta in Valencia.

“But when you are on the sidelines you have to think about the next possession and what you have to do, you don’t have a lot of time to think about luck or be frustrated. I’m very happy that it went to our side at the end, we were lucky. But the way we came back into the game is what makes me proud.”

Margins in the game of basketball are so thin. A errant pass here, a missed free throw there and that can cost you a game. Just ask Jared Harper who went 1/2 on his potential game tying free throws or Wade Baldwin when he fouled Harper with 10 seconds remaining in the contest or when Baldwin took the ball after Harper’s miss, dribbled it up court and inexplicably threw the ball into the Valencia bench with 3.2 clicks left on the clock.

It was a comedy of errors in more ways than one but at the end of the day a win, is a win, is a win and that’s what Maccabi needed to do in the last three road games. They had to win one game to make sure their record remained over .500 with two home tilts coming up against Red Star Belgrade and Bayern Munich and they got it to head back to Israel at 12-11 where Lorenzo Brown will also most probably be back in the lineup.

Katash’s relief is well, well warranted as the last thing he wanted to see happen was to return to the Holy Land one game under sea level which would have been the first time this season that the team would have been in the hole so to speak.

Everyone who stepped onto the floor for Maccabi played a part in the win. Whether it was John D who came off of the bench to score 17 points with five 3-pointers, Bonzie Colson who started and put in a 17 point, 12 rebound double-double with a team high 32 efficiency rating or Rafi Menco who hasn’t played a big part in Euroleague action but checked in with over 8 in this game while scoring a par and playing tough defense.

In the lockerroom, the exhaustion and relief of the players was as clear as day knowing that they had dodged a mega sized bullet.

“It was a huge win for us for a lot of reasons. Crucial win for the Top 8. We dug down and won,” Maccabi captain John Dibartolomeo told me as he also reflected on the last few seconds when Valencia had a chance to take the victory. “I was thinking please let us win. Just want to get out with a win.”

Colson, who is in the midst of a solid rookie season in Euroleague play and was named the game’s MVP explained to The Sports Rabbi how critical this win was for Maccabi’s playoff hopes along with what he was thinking about when Valencia got the ball back with just seconds remaining.

“It was a really big win for all of us and we knew it was not going to be easy. They started off well, we tried to capitalize in the second half and we did. Guys came in and gave great minutes, this is what makes a team. I’m happy with the win and we need to keep doing this moving forward. I was just thinking, don’t foul play solid defense.”

When Katash called upon Rafi Menco to enter the game, there was no question that some eyebrows were raised and those were raised even more when he stayed in the game for minute after minute. However, the Israeli played well in that time on the court and was a key contributor for the Yellow & Blue as he also spoke to The Sports Rabbi while he was cooling down in the lockerroom.

“This was an important win, especially against a team in good form who we are battling with head to head for a playoff spot. We now have an advantage over them. After the Barcelona game we knew that we needed to win at all costs. This was an important win on the road and every win helps us in the standings.”

The bottom line is that this win was huge after falling just two days earlier in dramatic fashion at Barcelona. Huge for the players confidence, huge to stay in the playoff hunt and huge for the head coach who needed this victory as badly as anyone else in the club.

But as we saw, crazy things always seem to happen at the end of game that could have easily influenced the result one way or another and Baldwin didn’t shy away from his part in what could resulted in a disastrous defeat.

“I was disgusted tonight. I think I had a disgusting performance. The ending was as bad as it gets on my end. But I have to give a lot of credit to my team and the coaching staff for keeping the positive energy throughout the entire game. Bonzie [Colson] did a lot of things to help us win. Our captain John DiBartolomeo stepped up again.”

“We finally got a road win. It’s been a long journey, and we are happy we finally got it. It’s about damn time. It was a good win. Rebounding defending. We have guys who step up. We found a way to win.”