Quick Hits

1) Hapoel Tel Aviv is the gift that just keeps on giving.

There is never a dull moment with Ofer Yannay’s club. It doesn’t matter what is going on in the world but his Reds are always in the news for the good and the not so good. Whether it’s long time employees departing, moving to Yad Eliyahu, the constant talk about the coach continuing on, Johnathan Motley leaving the team or Joe Ragland not being registered for Israeli league games, these are just a few of the issues that have been surrounding the team from day one.

If that hasn’t been enough action, Patrick Beverley finally weighed in on Motley leaving and his future in Israel. Some of the highlights are below while you can read in more depth HERE.

* I came to Tel Aviv because I knew he (Motley) was on the team
* There’s a way to do things but you don’t do it like that
* NBA teams & Real Madrid called
* Do I turn my back on my team? That’s not my style, I don’t operate like that
* I have some decisions to make

Will Pat Bev stay or will he go? That is the question. Only he knows the answer to that but don’t be surprised if he will head back to the United States and signs with an NBA team. In sports one has learnt that anything and everything can happen, where the improbable can become possible. Nothing is surprising when it comes down to sports.

Hapoel Tel Aviv right now is the greatest soap opera around and provides sports columnists with unlimited material on a daily basis.

That can never be taken for granted but one thing is clear, Yannay’s team is being talked about throughout Israel, Europe, America and beyond and that is absolutely golden for getting your name out there.

As the saying goes, any news is good news.

2) By the way, Hapoel Tel Aviv did have a EuroCup game this week that they lost 90-82 to Bahcesehir as they played the contest in Belgrade due to the security situation in Turkey and without Motley. The Reds may still be over .500 but they are having all kinds of on court issues to go along with all of the off of the court problems or shall we say, challenges. Head Coach Stefanos Dedas has not had an easy time getting his side to jell the way he would like it and with all of the challenges listed above, who can blame him?

He has been attacked and criticized in many corners for not being able to win games in Europe that are certainly ones that his team could, but one also has to remember that the turmoil going on is no simple task to navigate. With that he is also taking plenty of it to heart as we heard him raise his voice, well, yelling at the top of his lungs actually, following a post game interview on TV after the win over Hapoel Afula. Patience is at a premium right now and who can blame him.

There have been reports that the team’s general manager George Hinas went to Greece to meet with Dimitrios Itoudis to take over the job, there are other reports that Sergio Scariolo has already been offered a very nice package to become the new bench boss; all of this while Dedas is still currently the head coach.

It can’t be fun and Dedas deserves better than that.

The Greek came in last season to save the team and took them to the final and so close to winning their first title since the 1960’s and he did this while Israel was at war and plenty of foreigners were leaving the country. Dedas is a good guy, plain and simple and shouldn’t have to go through what he has had to experience this season.

Sure, he knew that he was under pressure from the first practice of training camp after Yannay had brought in one star after the next, but there is pressure to produce results and then there are is all of the external noise going on.

Next up for Dedas is a Saturday night matchup against Kiryat Ata who have been playing well of late, but ultimately should be an easy win. Let’s see where Hapoel Tel Aviv and Stefanos Dedas will be at that point in time.

3) Hapoel Jerusalem made it look mighty easy against Venezia, actually perhaps even shockingly easy as Yonatan Alon’s team dismantled Neven Shapija’s squad. On any given day that would be impressive, to smash a team 92-66 in EuroCup action, but the Reds did it without their top two point guards and two top centers. Jared Harper is out with an eye injury and Speedy Smith was released to sign with another team while Austin Wiley and Justin Smith are both injured so it was all hands on deck for Jerusalem.

Everyone knew they would have to give well over 100% effort in order to be competitive and come out with the win and they did exactly that starting with Noam Dovrat.

The guard has unfortunately been through a rough go the past few years with an elbow injury and then a knee issue that kept him out for well over a year. Bottom line is, from potential NBA talent to someone who has had to go through two very hard rehabs, it hasn’t been a picnic for Dovrat.

Many have watched Dovrat over the past while and felt sorry for him and imagined what could have been.

Finally against Venezia we all saw exactly what we had wanted to from the guard with 17 points, 3/5 from downtown, 5 rebounds and 4 assists (yes he also had 4 turnovers but we will put that on the side for now). It was just what the doctors had ordered. While it wasn’t just Dovrat, it was everyone from Khadeen Carrington, Or Cornelius and Yovel Zoosman to Chris Johnson, Gaby Chachashvili and newcomer Derek Ogbeide, it was the guard whose performance that stuck out.

“We came into the game without a number of players and very short roster,” Dovrat said after the game. “Everyone knew that they had to give 150% and not 100%. Everyone had to give extra of themselves and I’m glad we did it. We started the game well and continued that into the second half as we didn’t let them think they could come back. I’m glad we were able to get a “W” in this game despite all of the difficulties. It’s just a shame it wasn’t in the arena in front of all our fans.

Head Coach Yonatan Alon added, “I didn’t expect such a thing, but I know our guys. I know what they can do and what they can get out of themselves and I know that there is much more in us than we would normally show. In times like these you have to rise above and meet the challenge and kudos to them for doing that.”

4) Hapoel Holon has climbed back to .500 with a 2-2 record after downing Igokea in Basketball Champions League action after beginning their European campaign 0-2 with losses to Wurzburg and Nanterre. Although the two wins come against the same Igokea team that also means they will hold an advantage over the Bosnia and Herzegovina squad if they are tied for third place in Group A after the regular season ends.

The purples defeated Igokea a few weeks ago at their home away from home in Hungary due to the security situation back in the Holy Land and now after a difficult journey that included flights and a long bus ride to get to play the game. The journey ho9me may take some time but the team will be quite happy that they came away with the win that also puts them back in contention. Guy Goodes’s team now has a break until December 3rd when they will “host” Wurzburg and will close out the regular season two weeks later in France before most probably embarking on a Play In series to punch their ticket into the Round of 16 Group Stage.

On top of getting back to .500, Goodes must be thrilled to see his team coming together as both Jalen Adams (16pts) and Iftach Ziv (19pts) had superb games to go along with Marcus Bingham (20pts) who is stellar every game. Of course, the bench boss did explain that there is still plenty of work to be done.

“It’s a lot easier to make adjustments after you win. Everything is tight and mixed with the results. Our focus is on the next game against Wurzburg which will be a key game as we will know where we are and if we qualified or not. But we have to take it step by step. We have a long, long trip back and we are going to focus on the domestic league which we have on Monday.”

Idan Zalmanson also spoke about the win and what is coming up next for the club, “We are very happy and satisfied with the victory that we knew was very critical for us for the rest of the European season. After our win over Netanya, I think we chalked up another important victory here. We want to continue with our good performances, keep winning and continue to look better with time. We are waiting for the next European game against Wurzburg which is very critical for us as well with the hope that we will continue to win.”