Martin makes Maccabi mark

Maccabi Tel Aviv had a rollercoaster of a game against Nes Ziona. From going ahead by a double digits after the first quarter to heading into halftime down by one point to finally puling it together with some high octane offense in the third quarter to finally finish off a 95-87 win. It wasn’t easy and the coach would have been much happier if it had been. To add insult to injury so to speak, Darrun Hilliard had to come out of the game in the first half after taking a hit to his knee and now the team is waiting to see the results of the examination. Yellow & Blue coach Oded Katash seemed quite concerned following the game, “Darrun is an important player for us and he started the game well. We hope that he will be fine as he’s had some tough injuries.” The word is he may be out for a number of weeks.

On the positive side, Maccabi had to be thrilled with Jarell Martin’s performance which saw the big man score 23 points and grab 10 rebounds in a dominating showing. There had been some worry that since he was coming from Australia he would have issues adjusting to the European style of game. In the Zalgiris game he may have not had a big offensive showing but on the defensive end he was very solid but against Nes Ziona he showed his full arsenal of weapons whether it was from the outside, inside or just general basketball IQ, Martin did what he needed to do for Katash.

“Jarell has great ability on both sides of the ball and he is still working on adjusting to the European style and to what I am demanding. He will be a big contributor to this team,” Katash said.

“It’s challenging and I’m sticking with it and do what the coach and the team wants me to do,” Martin commented at the post game press conference. “I mam trying to make my presence known on the defensive end and whenever opportunities present themselves on the offensive end to take advantage of those.”

Erick Green will be key for Holon

When Hapoel Holon guard CJ Harris slipped on one of the stickers on the Hadera court a couple of weeks ago and its as determined that he would be out for a few months, Holon put together a massive list of potential replacement players who could come and fit in seamlessly. Well they found one, a very, very good one in Erick Green. The stealth shooter arrives in Holon on a short term contract with a tremendous amount of experience in Europe while also having played in the NBA and when he steps onto the court it’s clear who the boss is.

After Green put on a fabulous show for Holon against Hapoel Jerusalem in a 80-76 win by taking the bull by the horns to help his team to the win, head coach Guy Goodes explained what the veteran brings to the table, “Huge IQ and a natural scorer. He was able to integrate very easily because he could see what we were doing and he is able to take a bit off of Joe Ragland.” Marvin Jones also spoke about the club’s new addition, “He’s a killer and natural born scorer. He will give you that and we have good guys that have made him feel welcome. That is what Holon symbolizes, a family, so he can go out there play his best.” It wouldn’t be to anyones surprise if Green ends up staying with the team for the entire season.

Carmel Reds pass first test ready for the next

Hapoel Haifa has to be content with escaping Hapoel Beer Sheva with a 96-92 win as Sharon Drucker’s squad saw terrific performances from Israeli sharp shooter Amit Simhon and big man Devonte Upson. Both players will be important pieces to the Carmel Reds puzzle and Upson specifically with his experience in Turkey, Italy and Poland will be counted on for his inside presence in a big way. Add to that he was flawless at the free throw one going 9/9 from the charity stripe and he’s going to a dangerous threat for any opponent ad that includes Gaziantep this coming Wednesday in FIBA Europe Cup group stage action.

Reds cruise

Hapoel Tel Aviv had an easy as pie time with Hapoel Eilat 98-59 in what was a blowout form the get go. Xavier Munford is looking more and more like a player who can take home the league’s MVP award at the end of they season while Danny Franco’s team has so may weapons including arguably the best Israeli squad in the league and they are going to be very, very scary. On the other side of the court, Eilat needs help and lots of it starting with a point guard and they also need to answer the question as to why and how one of their platers Eric Griffin joined second division Maccabi Raanana in the United States for one of their exhibition game against an NBA team. How exactly did that happen? After the fights game of their tour Griffin returned to Israel for Eilat’s game but it’s still not clear how this was allowed to happen by all parties involved. As they say, Only in Israel!

Kiryat Ata builds Rome in a day

Who would have thunk it? Kiryat Ata is a perfect 1-0 after knocking off last season’s finalist Bnei Herzliya 79-70. Whatever could go right for the northerners did as all cylinders were clicking whether its as veteran NBA man Diante Garrett, last year’s Leumit League MVP Amin Stephens, Juvonte Reddic and perhaps most important of all Karam Mashour whose 13 point contribution was critical in the club’s victory. Now, don’t expect any miracles against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Tuesday night but getting a win in the first game is very good news for Sharon Avrahami as every win is a step towards staying in the league with that being his priority #1.

On the other side of the court Bnei Herzliya’s performance should be very worrying as they have not looked anything like the team they were last year. Of course, there don’t have last season’s league MVP in Chinanu Onuaku who is now in Italy and his replacement Robert Carter looks like he will be out of action for some time. Oren Aharoni has to get his guys going and so far whether it’s been the preseason or Champions League, Herzliya has not looked competitive which is something they have to turn around fast.

Galilee Derby produces points galore

Hapoel Gilboa Galil and Hapoel Galil Elyon put on quite the show to open the season in the Galilee with a tremendous showing from both teams as the hosts were able to sneak away with a 117-115 win at home. Clutch shooting, massive comebacks, double overtime, big shots and just pure 1000% desire on both sides of the court gave the fans quite the show. In fact, it was unfortunate that one team had to lose. As Gilboa’s coach Rami Hadar said after the contest that he felt that hey lost the game three times! It was just one of this barnburner games that saw Payton Willis who not only made his professional career after finishing his college career at Minnesota just a number of months ago but scored 35 points in what will be a debut to remember.