Ah, where to begin.

I thought I was going to start off my column talking about how Anthony Bennett made a triumphant return in Hapoel Jerusalem’s shocking 84-83 hard earned victory over the odds on favorite to win the Champions League title. How the former #1 draft pick on a short term one-month contract led the way with 18 first half points and a huge corner 3-pointer near the end of the final frame to help propel Jerusalem to a surprising victory that proved all of the critics wrong both about Bennett himself and the Reds.

And in fact that is how I had originally started my postgame piece, until Bonzie Colson threw cold water all over the 5,000 Reds fans at the Jerusalem Arena by hitting a game winning triple from the top of the arc over an extended Itay Segev to hand Pinar Karsiyaka the 86-84 win.

Instead of celebrating Bennett’s unbelievable performance after twisting his ankle in the team’s last practice and was a game tome decision, the focus landed right on Colson, how Jerusalem couldn’t seal the and yet more questions about Bennett’s future with the club.

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Bennett has been the center of attention since signing his deal with the Reds with coach Oren Amiel not fanning any of the flames as to his nonchalant attitude towards his big man. In his pregame comments, Amiel didn’t speak with too much confidence in Bennett being a long term piece to build around this coming season but did state that he was currently part of the team’s roster and he will use him as he sees fit.

Following the game when asked to talk about Bennett’s impressive performance he answered just that, it was an impressive performance. Nothing more and nothing less.

The players on the other hand think otherwise as Bennett’s precarious contract situation has unfortunately been a talking point that has taken on a life of its own.

“That’s my brother,” Sean Kilpatrick who finished the game off with 16 points and 6 assists told us. “The only thing that I can sit there and continue doing is just making sure that AB is focused mentally. He did that throughout this week when there were a lot of reports coming out. For a player to hear that constantly and come out and perform the way he did that’s hard. That’s a lot of distractions that are going on and as a player he shouldn’t be hearing that.”

“We want AB here, I do especially. AB is a key part of what we are trying to build and if we continue to help AB and looking at it as he’s one of us and he’s a part of our crew then I think we can do some tremendous things.”

Thon Maker, who scored 5 points and took 5 boards and who is also making his first foray into Europe from the NBA had similar things to say, “I love playing with AB. He has turned his mindset around and he’s not focused on what’s out there but here. He wants to be here from my conversations with him and he proved it tonight by the way he played. On the defensive end he can switch and offensively you can see he can shoot the ball. We want to focus on getting better.”

In order to get to better as Maker says, it’s clear that Jerusalem needs to put Bennett’s contract status to bed and give both the player and fans peace of mind that the Reds are going into battle both in the Champions League and the Israeli competition as well. Build continuity now and close the loop.

After his stellar first half, Bennett along with the rest of the squad came out cold to begin the third quarter and was promptly taken out of the game with 6:57 left in the period after a missed layup and turnover. The Canadian was then only put back in with 8:03 remaining in the contest.

Did he stay on the bench for too long? Was this somewhat of a repeat of the loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Winner Cup action when Bennett was glued to the pine for way too much time? Could be despite playing a bit over 23 of the 40 minutes in a game that he probably should have been out on the court for close to 30 giving Jerusalem an all-around threat that potentially could have salted away the game earlier and not have to come down to a game winning shot.

“You’re not going to see another 4 that can shoot the ball like that the way he does,” Kilpatrick said.” When AB has a clear mind and is comfortable, my experiences with him and me and his being in Brooklyn together, the sky’s the limit, but you have to let AB play. You got to leave the distractions away. AB has to make sure he comes every day prepared to work. If he keeps doing that then the sky’s the limit.”

What is certain is Bennett’s commitment to his team playing after having sprained his ankle as he riled up the fans each time he went to the bench hearing his name being called in unison by the supporters.

“It was a mental battle,” he said. “I have to fight for myself after what happened yesterday and I had to go out there and fight with my team.”

The team needs to go to battle with Bennett. It’s time to put everything else aside and put the focus on the court and not off of it. Management was sent a crystal clear message that Bennett should be a key cog to the team going forward. Its players and its fans have spoken and Bennett perhaps spoke the loudest with his play.

If Jerusalem wants to succeed, Bennett is surely one of the pieces to the puzzle. There are only 5 games left in Champions League play with the ACB’s Manresa up next at home. On television after the game, Bennett said that he’ll be there. Let’s make sure that he’s not only there for that game on the court as an active participant, but that he is here for the rest of the campaign as well.