Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash said that Hapoel Jerusalem’s advantage is that they have continuity and he wasn’t just 100% correct, he was 1000% right on that one. The reds took the game to the yellow-and-blue right from the get go as Jared Harper drained one 3-pointer after another to get the game off and running for a trio of them before the game was even three minutes old. From there it was all one way traffic for Yonatan Alon’s squad as the 4-point lead after the first quarter grew to ten by halftime and then held serve after the third quarter.

However, Jimmy Clark was a one-man wrecking crew to cut the lead all the way down to just a single point but from there it was all Khadeen Carrington who turned up the offense and scored 12 points in a masterful frame of basketball to put away the win.

For all intents and purposes the game was way, way over by then as the Reds had more passion and more consistency as they are about to embark on a EuroCup season that they hope will end in the championship in order to punch their ticket to the Euroleague just as Hapoel Tel Aviv did last year.

For Maccabi Tel Aviv, well, there is plenty of work that needs to be done as they open up the Euroleague season with a double dose of Anadolu Efes and Paris with a date in Sofia and Hapoel Tel Aviv after that. Not an easy way to begin the season with a team that is far, far from being close to playing winning basketball that will be needed to defeat their continental foes.

Yes it’s true, very true that Maccabi has a new group of players and it’s going to take time to jell and come together, but when one looks at Hapoel Jerusalem it’s clear as day that due to their continuity they are in a perfect spot to do some serious damage this season both in European play and in the domestic league.

Katash has said it very succinctly that there is a process that Maccabi is going to go through and that they are building a team from almost scratch while Alon said that he’s very happy as to where his team is right now and that they are ready for the new season and continental campaign that awaits him.

The Reds bench boss also has mentioned time and time again that the reason is very simple, that the club had signed Jared Harper, Khadeen Carrington and Yovel Zoosman to extensions before last season had come to an end and that they also added Roi Huber to the team. Those moves were all smart, savvy and intelligent as Jerusalem made sure to get their cornerstone players under contract early and often as the old adage says.

But what Alon didn’t mention is that the players who were added to the roster are also high quality players and ones that were better than the crew they had let go at the end of the season.

In are Anthony Lamb, Cassius Winston, Roie Paretzky and Josiah Jordan James (as well as Dmytro Skapintsev), out are Tarik Philip, Chris Johnson, Or Cornelius and Jeremy Morgan. This is where the real improvement and upgrades are for the Reds.

This quartet+ of players as a whole are stronger than the group that was with the team last season and while I am not taking away anything from that crew, the ones that were brought in could very well take Jerusalem to the promised land of the Euroleague.

Maccabi on the other hand have so many new faces and it’s just going to take time for them, but the question is does Katash have that time to spare? Can they afford to begin the Euroleague season 0-3? They can not, especially after last year’s disaster of a campaign.

The fans won’t accept a bumbling basketball team and so far in all three games where Maccabi was on display, two losses to Hapoel Jerusalem and a razor thin win over Kiryat Ata, well they weren’t going to fool anybody; they have a long, long way to go.

The distribution of minutes has been odd, players don’t seem to be finding their way including Jeff Dowtin, TJ Leaf and Marcio Santos, while Uros Trifunovic has been out injured. Add to that list Lonnie Walker who has been hot and cold or out injured along with Jaylen Hoard who looks lost since his performance in the Eurobasket and Katash has plenty of problems as Anadolu EFES, Paris and a Tel Aviv Derby await in the first three Euroleague games.

The bottom line is that Maccabi looks like a mess right now as they are also still looking for another center to fil out the roster because it’s clear that Clifford Omoruyi is not going to cut it.

Katash has tried at each press availability to say that they are a new team that needs time and while that is true, does he really have the benefit of time?

For Katash and Maccabi time is of the essence and they are about to be left behind as the train pulls out of the station with Yonatan Alon and Hapoel Jerusalem in the engine.