Hapoel Jerusalem returns to EuroCup action as they face U-BY Cluj-Napoca on Wednesday night (19:30) in what is a home game in Samokov, Bulgaria due to the security situation in Israel. While the Reds sit at 3-1 in continental action, the Romanian squad is 1-3 early on this season as they will try to improve on last year’s campaign when they advanced to the quarterfinals and ultimately fell to London Lions.
Yonatan Alon’s team will meet a Cluj club that have a number of familiar faces including Mareks Mejeris who played for the capital city side back in the 2022-23 season as he will now face his former squad for the first time.
The forward is entering his second year with the Romanian team as he will look to help Mihai Silvășan’s team take the next step in their evolution and reach the next step as a European franchise.
Mejeris who played a significant role in Aleksandar Dzikic’s team that won the Israel State Cup and advanced to the finals of the Basketball Champions League took time out of his busy schedule just ahead of Wednesday’s game to talk about his new adventure in Cluj while also looking back on a special time in the Holy City.
“I am doing good, I’m ok,” a relaxed Mejeris began from his team hotel in Bulgaria the same facility that Jerusalem is also staying at. “I like playing basketball at a good level so that’s great. Getting older slowly, but life is life, it is was it is.”
Mejeris is in his second season with Cluj and is happy to be back to help the club continue its upward trend, “For me, it’s been easier as it’s my second year and I know all the people and the city, life is easier at this point. New challenges and new teammates and new problems to solve. We kept some of last year’s identity but tried to improve some areas that could be better. We brought some more skills to the team and more speed so we are learning to play that way. We have same defensive qualities.”
One of Mejeris’s new teammates is Hapoel Jerusalem’s former center Zach Hankins who he played with o the reds and now joined the Romanian club for the 2024-25 season, “Zach reached out to me before he joined the club and wanted to know about the team. Last season we chatted a few times about the situation in Israel, our wives as well so we knew what was going on in Israel.”
Cluj is 1-3 so far this season but Mejeris isn’t too concerned as it’s very early on in the year, “It’s just part of sports, you never know how you will start. You can play so many exhibitions games but the official game comes and you have problems. Or you lose all the exhibition games and then you win in the regular season. We lost a couple of those exhibition games before the start of the season and maybe that inertia got to us in these first few games. But we played some solid teams in the EuroCup and two are still unbeaten so I don’t want to beat ourselves up about that.”
Last season Mejeris and Cluj had a good year but came up against a tough London Lions team in the quarterfinals, “It was a bad moment for us and we played that game at home. We had some long weeks to prepare and it was unfortunate it ended the way it did. But it was a big step for the club and city as we are growing and getting better with every year. It was a milestone and the team didn’t feel that bad because it was a new height as it was a good season and we have bright future ahead.”
Cluj’s head coach Mihai Silvășan has been with the team for almost a decade and brings a special love for the game Mejeris explained, “He is demanding as a coach and as a person. He’s a basketball fan too and loves the game. He is really extreme at times and he knows all the little details which is great. You know everything going into the game.”
Basketball in Romania has been taking strides just as many other European countries have over the past few decades and Mejeris is excited to be a part of that renaissance, “The league in Israel is way better as the imports are Americans but Romania is starting to grow as a basketball nation. Other European countries grew a lot over the last 20 years and now Romania is as well. The league has a lot of teams about 17, there is high level competitive teams with six playing internationally. The level may not be there yet, but the will is there and if it is, the rest will come in mater of time. There is potential to grow.”
Mejeris looked back at his time with Hapoel Jerusalem and reminisced about some of the great moments he experienced, “Winning the Cup was great, the Final 4 in the BCL was also amazing. Every home game was great. Some really great games especially against the Greek team AEK at home was unforgettable. It was something that I will never forget.”
After one season, Mejeris departed Jerusalem and landed in Cluj where is he very content to be, “I wouldn’t say surprised as it wasn’t my best season and performance by me. I was hoping that maybe there was a chance I could stay, I didn’t and it worked out for me here in Cluj. It is just a journey, right, left and then go.”
Since having left Jerusalem, Mejeris is still in touch with Coach Aleksandar Dzikic, “When I played for Latvia we faced Georgia and we spoke. He has also asked me about some players and we can reach out if needed so it’s great to maintain that relationship.”
Mejeris was aware as to what had occurred in Israel on October 7th and reflected on the current world situation, “I was in touch with some people and I spoke to Zach and he spoke about the situation. I can’t even describe the feeling, it was unimaginable. It was the second time something started whe I was playing abroad just like I was in Russia as well when they went into Ukraine and I was at home for FIBA qualifying so I didn’t go back to Russia. Crazy times in the world and ten years ago we couldn’t have imagined what is happening, no way.”
Mejeris who has played for Latvia for many years was part of the Olympic qualifying tournament that his home nation hosted. While hopes were high, Latvia just came up short in punching their ticket to arguably the world’s best basketball competition when they fell to Brazil in the final.
“It was brutal, but if a team comes out shooting 8/8 from 3 it’s their day I guess. We have a joke that we made it to the finals but we didn’t show up. It was one of the best moments in my career as it was the first time that as a country we got that high and when you look back it’s a new thing in our history hooks. We didn’t achieve what we wanted to, but we did something that we had never done. It is what it is and I am happy we played in finals.”
At 33-years old, Mejeris is thinking a bit about his post playing career but doesn’t really know where that may lead him, “As I see other players leaving the game, you understand that you can have all sorts of ideas but when the moment comes you just never know. I have some thoughts but nothing specific. It would be a shame to just ditch 20 years of knowledge and don’t give it to anyone but I don’t know in what form or how just yet.”
As for the keys to beating Hapoel Jerusalem in EuroCup play, Mejeris knows it will be tough but also understands what Cluj has to do, “We have to be consistent. Jerusalem is really talented and they can have some great moments of play during the game. It may be more of a roller coaster game and if we can keep it consistent it will be ok for us.”
Mejeris had plenty of wonderful times in Israel as he would also consider returning to the Holy Land down the road, “Why not. It’s not something I would never say no to. Israel is a really special place because that was where we experienced my daughter’s first year. A lot of good memories. The season in Jerusalem was special.”
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