Was Thomasson the player Maccabi Tel Aviv really needed?

Maccabi Tel Aviv signed guard Joe Thomassson this week for the remainder of the season. Thomasson has played in Israel in the past helping Hapoel Gilboa Galil go all the way to the 2021 finals where they eventually fell to the Yellow & Blue in a best of 3 series 2-1. While Thomasson can create shots for himself off the dribble and can score in bunches, was this the positon that Oded Katash really needed to fill?

On face value, Maccabi needed a stretch 4 who is a threat from long distance. Two such players were on the market who could have fit the bill in Kevin Hervey who was released by Reggio Emilia and joined Hapoel Holon as well as Trey Thompkins who inked a month long deal with Red Star Belgrade. Each player obviously presented their own challenges and were apparently ruled out but the question still remains as to why sign yet another guard in Thomasson unless there are injury issues that Maccabi is still dealing with.

There is most definitely concern about Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin’s backs so much so apparently it was worth bringing in a player in Thomasson who has no Euroleague experience but does have Israeli league games under his belt and most importantly is a player that Oded Katash knows.

No doubt Maccabi was happy to see Antonius Cleveland taking home the MVP award in the club’s league game against Hapoel Eilat and if Cleveland and Thomasson can fill in Brown’s and Baldwin’s shoes in the Israeli league with tons of games coming up in order to give the latter two proper rest to perform in the Euroleague, then great. The Yellow & Blue will be thrilled.

Will the lack of a stretch 4 come back to bite Maccabi at some point? Possibly, but they also have some tools that can be used in a variety of fashions, ways and positions.
Was Thomasson the right move? Was not going after a 4 the way to go?

As they say, time will tell and it certainly won’t take long as there are domestic league games piling up with 4 in a week which includes one against Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Derby as well as one at Hapoel Jerusalem in the Classico.

Will Maccabi rest the “B Brothers” and go with Thomasson and Cleveland? They very well may.

But before we even get to that quartet of league games, Maccabi plays Anadolu EFES in their final Euroleague game before the break. This is a winnable game that will take place in Riga, Latvia despite being the Turkish club’s home contest but can’t play in Istanbul due to the political and security situation brought upon by the war.

This is a pivotal game for Maccabi as a win will give them a 14-12 record while a loss will put them at .500. There is no question that the Yellow & Blue wants to head into the continental break with a hearty win rather than a loss.

Kevin Hervey Joins Hapoel Holon

Credit has to go to Hapoel Holon for swooping in and signing Kevin Hervey after losing Justin Smith for a number of weeks due to a hamstring injury. The forward has oodles of experience from the NBA, Euroleague and EuroCup where he helped Bologna win the 2022 title. Holon moved fast, didn’t let the news leak to anyone and did what they had to do in order to fill a huge void that was exposed in their Basketball Champions League loss to Promethias at their home away from home in Hungary. Less than 24 hours had gone by since the defeat Holon did what they needed to do in order to fill a massive hole. Hervey seemed to fall out of favor with Reggio Emilia head coach Dimitrios Priftis and made his way swiftly to the Holy Land.

There is no question that the one time Oklahoma City Thunder forward is one of the most talented and exciting players to land in Israel and Holon has the opportunity to really benefit from the move. Of course, as with any transaction, time will tell (sounds familiar) but Hervery could be a real game changer.

Tel Aviv Reds Finish EuroCup Regular Season Strong

Hapoel Tel Aviv ended their EuroCup regular season in second place with a 13-5 record after a big 94-73 win over Besiktas and an automatic spot in the quarterfinals of the competition which is no less than miraculous considering the situation the Reds were flung into on October 7th. Danny Franco was able to somehow pull all of his players together once the war against Hamas broke out. Despite the craziness that the team would have to go through by finding a temporary home, flights, injuries, additions and everything else that comes with it, everyone stayed on the same page and punch their ticket to a matchup against the winner of the Gran Canaria and Beskitas Play In game. Not a bad reward for the Reds. The club is going to try and have the security apparatus allow fans into the quarterfinal contest in Belgrade which would obviously be a massive help to the team and give them the boost they need.

Capital City Reds Pound Tenerife

Hapoel Jerusalem overwhelmed Tenerife 85-61, the team that they had gotten by in the Basketball Champions League semifinals last season in a hard fought, tooth and nail clash. This BCL Round of 16 game was never as close as the Reds began the game by setting the physical and defensive tone by taking out the Spanish team’s superstar in one Marcelinho Huertas. Or Cornelius took the one time Los Angeles Laker out of the game with aggressive defense that the referees allowed to the ire of Tenerife bench boss Txus Vidorreta who couldn’t believe that the Jerusalem guard was not issued one foul. The two sides will meet once again but this time in the Canary Islands where Tenerife will no doubt be looking to exact some serious revenge in a game that they very well may win. The issue for the Spaniards however will be that Jerusalem holds a 24 point advantage on them so if Tenerife wants to hold the tie breaker they’ll need to win by 25 which is one tough ask of any team.

Quick Hits:

• Big center Benayahu Srur for Maccabi Ramat Gan recorded his first ever double-double 10 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort at Hapoel Beer Sheva.
• Beer Sheva now have 4 wins, two more than Hapoel Eilat which gives them some breathing room at the bottom of the standings.
• Hapoel Eilat hired a new head coach Jurica Golemac who played for Hapoel Jerusalem back in 2006/07 and most recently was on the Cedevita Olimpija bench for three seasons in Slovenia.
• Kiryat Ata are the darlings of the league with a 9-6 record and have pretty much assured themselves of staying up in the top division for yet another season with a bare bones budget but with NBA prospect Ben Saraf playing significant minutes.
• Saraf was invited to the NBA Basketball Without Borders camp in Indianapolis during All Star weekend but the guard is nursing a small injury that may keep him in Israel.
• Herzliya is starting to look like a solid team after having seen their roster as a revolving door. The players on their current roster seem to be the ones who will be with Dan Shamir for the balance of the season, although they hit a bump in the road in a very tight 65-64 loss at Hapoel Afula.
• As for Afula, Roie Perel’s team really needed that win which now gives 5 victories on the season. Afula had been able to play solid ball for a decent stretch but then had some issues putting up a “W” with the last one coming almost a month earlier on January 8th.
• It was great to see Isaiah Whitehead finally break out with a 34 point game, however, Nes Ziona fell 91-87 to Hapoel Galil Elyon. Something seems to be off with Elad Hasin’s team which is partially due to an injury to Yair Kravits.
• James Feldeine turned continues to turn back the clock with a 27 point performance going 5/9 for 3 for Galil in that win over Nes Ziona. In fact, Feldeine looks as good as ever as he continues to provide senior leadership for Barak Peleg’s team.
• Finally, Hapoel Haifa really need to find some wins because they have only 4 of them. The issue is that they have a very tough schedule coming up with games against Jerusalem and Holon at home and on the road at Afula.