The stakes are high: Hapoel Tel Aviv readies for Venezia, Hapoel Jerusalem looks to finish off AEK

Apr 11, 2023 | Holyland Hoops

Israel basketball fans have plenty to look forward to this week as both Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem are in playoff action as each Red side look to punch their ticket to the next round in each of their respective competitions.

For Danny Franco’s Hapoel Tel Aviv, they will be tipping off against Venezia in EuroCup Round of 16 action on Wednesday (21:00) at the Drive In Arena as they look to take the win and move into the one game quarterfinal playoff contest against the winner of the Badalona and London clash. The EuroCup plays its postseason in one game rounds where its win or go home. You take the victory and you earn the right to play another day all the way to the finals, you lose and it’s bye, bye, so long and farewell. A quite unforgiving system to say the least but it does bring a certain amount of excitement to the table in each and every game that is played in the postseason.

Danny Franco – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman


As for Aleksandar Dzikic’s Hapoel Jerusalem, the capital city reds lead their Basketball Champions League best of 3 quarterfinal series 1-0 over AEK and now head to Athens for game two at the OAKA Arena at 5:30pm on Wednesday where there will be 500 fans in the stands supporting the Israeli squad. However, the Greek squad have plenty supporters of their own and one of the best fanbases in Europe that will be looking to send the series back to the Holy Land for a decisive game three.

Both games won’t be easy for either one of the Israeli sides, but are both definitely winnable games without a doubt.

“We have a lot of fans who support us everywhere’s and this is their club,” Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Danny Franco said. “The players feel that. We respect our opponent and they are familiar with us as are we with them. I don’t believe that there is a favorite or underdog.”

Veteran point guard J’Covan Brown knows that in order to get by former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Neven Spahija’s team they will have to rely on there own play and look at how they can make it all about themselves.

“It’s about us. They are experienced and we have to play our game. I Have to lead this group in order to make the right steps forward. In one game anything can happen but we have our crowd here.”

Bar Timor – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman


Reds captain Bar Timor also looked ahead to the game but is very well aware that the Italians are in good form, “We always have confidence playing here with the support of our fans. The push from our fans is exceptional and it’s meaningful for us and an advantage for us. We need to come and play and have fun. However, they have a lot of advantages and are on a good run with 4 wins in a row.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv had a superb continental campaign finishing in third place in their EuroCup group but coach Franco knows he needs to make sure that his team is focussed and is careful because in a one game winner take all, anything cane happen.

“We saw that in a home game against Hapoel Jerusalem we went down early and we didn’t react well and this can happen in this game also. It’s very important with the energy around this arena that we know how to keep it under control and remain focussed during the minutes where we are not playing as well. This will also be a test for some of the players and for their future. Whoever wants to play for Hapoel Tel Aviv needs to know how to keep focused during these moments. We have work to do and we need to know how to do it.”

Despite Hapoel having won 8 MVP awards this season, Brown knows that this is an entirely different ball game, “It means nothing if you don’t win anything. The guys we have are amazing guys. Any given night it can be anybody as you can see. That doesn’t matter in a playoff game. They will come and play hard and we need to match the intensity.”

Danny Franco – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman


With the Reds’ surge this season, the club understands that the steps that they have taken shouldn’t be taken for granted and that they need to be prudent as they move ahead as a franchise.

“I came back to the club much faster than I had expected,” Franco explained. “Since then we gave juts brown and gotten bigger. No one in management saw it coming. There are things that we need to fix and to work on to make sure that this can have staying power for years to come. Management really deserves a lot of credit for how the club has been built up.”

“We aren’t counting on home court and it doesn’t give us any advantage. This game is a very important game for the club’s future. Part of this year’s success is that fact that we had players who continued from last season. The club is at a crossroads and it needs to find its heart and take the next step forward. The players are thirsting to succeed and that can go one of two directions.”

Brown is well aware as to how big the upcoming 40 minutes of play will be for the team, “The stakes are high and we want to win one game at a time. We have all been in big games. This is the biggest for us right now here at Hapoel Tel Aviv. I felt like we could win every title. You can’t be lazy or tired or defeated. You got to come 100%.”

Zach Hankins – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman


Over at Hapoel Jerusalem, big man Zach Hankins who was stymied on the offensive end last game knows he will need to turn it around and the team will also have to make the right adjustments in order to help the Reds win in Athens, “We had to make a lot of adjustments and we got off to a hot start last game which probably won’t happen again. We have to work on those things that they beat us on and what we can do better.”

“Coach reminded us as to how fans can effect the game and we are fortunate to have some many of ours with us. I didn’t have a great game and I hope that I was able to have a positive effect on it. We want to make them play outside of their game and we want to get the ball inside for us.”

Head coach Aleksandar Dzikic also looked ahead to the challenge at hand, “We rested for a few days and started to prepare for the game. That was the biggest gap between two games for a very long time and we will see how it will effect us. It’s a big game there like the first game. There are multiple challenges they have many weapons outside and inside and experience and a very good defensive team.”

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