Tyrus McGee – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman

SLICING & DICING

The star of the game, Tyrus McGee was fabulous, absolutely terrific. The guard sliced and diced his way through the Jerusalem Swiss cheese defense and scored at will going 9/13 from two 2/4 from three while grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing out 6 assists and ending the game with an efficiency rating of 33. WOW! Talk about taking control of a game in a big way. McGee who has won a FIBA Europe Cup and Italian Championship brings invaluable experience to the table for Stefanos Dedas’s squad while also providing them with a high octane engine in the backcourt, “I came out to be myself and stick to the coach’s game plan,” The Iowa State product said. “I knew how important it was to beat Jerusalem after the last game against Nes Ziona which was tough. We had to come back.” Will Holon be able to keep McGee after already signing CJ Harris and Chris Johnson for next season? “I’ve never signed early with a team and I go home early and relax and I don’t rush things and decide what I want to do.”

ON THE SIDELINES

Huge congrats to Hapoel Holon assistant coach Amit Sherf for recording his first win on the sidelines in Israel league play as his club downed Hapoel Jerusalem 103-94 as the Israeli replaced head coach Stefanos Dedas after he had been suspended earlier in the day. Being the bench boss isn’t something new for Sherf who led the purples during the “Corona League” last season when the domestic league returned to action in June of 2020 to finish off the 19/20 campaign. In addition, Sherf also guided the club in select Balkan League games this year as well, so he’s got some experience both leading a club on and off the court including when he spoke at the post game press conference with professionalism and poise of a wily veteran. “I’m happy that we went back to playing Holon basketball and that of Stefanos Dedas,” Sherf explained. “We still have some things to work on but we were able to get into the paint and also hit out 3-pointers.”

Stefanos Dedas & Amit Sherf – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman

Dedas serenaded Sherf following the game taking the microphone and congratulating his assistant while giving him a massive bear hug to the delight of the fans who lined up all game long asking the Greek for selfies. But the man of the hour was Sherf who kept receiving endless praise, “It felt great to get the love from everyone and it is great to be a part of this organization. It’s been a lot of fun to be able to take advantage of the opportunity to coach the game against Jerusalem.” As for the differences between leading the team now that back last summer, Sherf was straight and to the point, “The experience was totally different between the Corona League and now. We had a tough time last summer and we came very close to the playoffs but it gave me experience for being here today with this team. As for my future, I’m not looking too far ahead.”

Yonatan Alon – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman

ON THE OTHER SIDELINES

On the other sidelines, Yonatan Alon looked more and more like an assistant coach and not one who will be leading the way for the long term. Oded Katash’s former assistant couldn’t find a way to stop Holon and at moo point during the game did it feel like Hapoel Jerusalem were going to be able to win the game despite closing the gap numerous times. Giving up once again more than 100 points won’t help a team find too many victories in Israel as Tyrus McGee and company continuously scored inside and outside. It was crystal clear what the Reds need to do and they’ve got to shore up the D or else they won’t be going too far and perhaps not even feature in the upper half of the standings for the 3rd round and then have to battle or a postseason spot. With only one game left in round two against Hapoel Gilboa Galil, Jerusalem is going to have to hope that Holon can take care of Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion because if they can’t they may be on the outside looking in. “Our defense wasn’t good enough today and we have to focus on that,” Alon said. “We have to find some solutions. There is a lot of desire and character and everyone has to work together to play harder and battle, play defense for our fans and that will happen.”