{"id":43863,"date":"2021-10-29T13:40:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T13:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=43863"},"modified":"2021-10-30T20:43:56","modified_gmt":"2021-10-30T20:43:56","slug":"baselines-amiel-out-in-jerusalem-mess-saras-on-jokubaitis-maccabi-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/baselines-amiel-out-in-jerusalem-mess-saras-on-jokubaitis-maccabi-wins\/","title":{"rendered":"BASELINES: Amiel Out in Jerusalem Mess, Saras On Jokubaitis, Maccabi Wins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each week just as we head into Shabbat, The Sports Rabbi will bring you his finals thoughts on the Israeli league week that was, Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Euroleague along with the other Blue & White teams in Europe plus you can check out all of the other postgame articles below as well.
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Derrick Williams – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

ICYMI<\/h2>\n

Maccabi keeps on rolling with stunning win over Barca, Amiel out at Jerusalem on Episode #238<\/a><\/p>\n

You’ve got to have heart: Maccabi knows the script as to how to make this season a special one<\/a><\/p>\n

Maccabi Tel Aviv crushes Barcelona 85-68 in dominating fashion to win 4th in a row<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cKeenan is our main point guard” What makes Maccabi’s Evans tick ahead of Barcelona<\/a><\/p>\n

Knicks stash Rokas Jokubaitis talks Barca, honing his trade and keys to NBA success<\/a><\/p>\n

We have witnessed Amiel’s last stand as Jerusalem coach<\/a><\/p>\n

Williams earns his Yellow & Blue stripes in Maccabi triumph as Barca is on deck<\/a><\/p>\n

“I think Euroleague is the best basketball in the world” Tyler Cavanaugh talks Zalgiris, hoops ahead of Maccabi<\/a><\/p>\n

Conversation with Hapoel TLV’s James Young, Classico blowout on Episode #237<\/a>
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Oren Amiel – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

OPENER<\/h2>\n

Sports are very, veery dynamic and so is the shelf life of a head coach. As they say you can\u2019t fire the entire team when things go south and we saw that in action at the stroke of halftime during the Maccabi Tel Aviv and Barcelona Euroleague game.<\/p>\n

No, Ioannis Sfairopoulos is still in charge of the Yellow & Blue and wasn\u2019t jettisoned when his team went into the break up by 20 points, 56-36 over Saras Jasikevicius\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

It was Oren Amiel, the bench boss or should we say former bench boss of Hapoel Jerusalem who was shown the door at 9:47pm, a much more convenient time than the infamous 2:27am the Erez Edelstein was let go by Maccabi years ago.<\/p>\n

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Oren Amiel – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div>\n

Letting go a coach or shall we say that the sides parted ways on a Thursday night smack dab in the middle of a Euroleague game is probably one of the best times to do so as all of the Israeli sports world\u2019s eyes are on Maccabi as Jerusalem tried to sweep the coaching change under the rug heading into the weekend and a slow news day.<\/p>\n

Amiel leaving Jerusalem will be a footnote in the history of the Reds, nothing more and nothing less and that is most probably how the club wants his tenure to be remembered as.<\/p>\n

However, Amiel out of a job with Hapoel is just putting a bandaid over a much bigger issue. Jerusalem needs to do some major soul searching as to how they have managed the club over the past year plus and going through one coach after the next is just putting a black mark on a proud franchise with a fanbase that deserves stability and so much more. You can\u2019t keep making mistake after mistake on a management level and expect that the fans will keep coming back for more. Why would they?<\/p>\n

Not allowing Oded Katash to rebuild the team after the end of the \u201ccorona season\u201d, bring a totally disconnected Dainius Adomaitis and parachuting him into a situation that was apparently one that was no win. Then allowing assistant coach Yonatan Alon who should have been given the chance once Katash left the job to finish off a lost season that saw most of the imports depart during the mini-war with Gaza and Hamas.<\/p>\n

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Oded Katash – Photo Credit Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div>\n

We can also go back to the hiring of Fotis Katsikaris and Modi Maor as failures as well before bringing in Katash who provided immediate consistency to the club.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day ownership headed by Eyal Homsky along with the CEO Guy Harel have plenty of the blame that can be laid at their feet. The pair have mismanaged the club from top to bottom and now need to dig out of another mess.<\/p>\n

Will Katash return? It could very well happen as he is unemployed and the club knows exactly what they will get from him. Would he want the job? Well that\u2019s another big question that remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

But what is certain is that they can\u2019t make another mistake or else they will lose whatever credibility they have left with the fans.<\/p>\n

HALFTIME<\/h2>\n

It was great to see Barcelona and the New York Knicks young gun Rokas Jokubaitis live and in person after having spoken to him over the phone on Wednesday night as I did an interview with the 34th overall selection at the 2021 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

I have seen the Lithuanian guard a number of times when he played with his home country club Zalgiris but now with the likes of perennial title contender Barcelona, it seems like a totally different story. Rokubaitis played only 8 minutes against Maccabi but he made some nice plays to score 4 points and impress a number of people around the Tel Aviv arena.<\/p>\n

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The Sports Rabbi with Rokas Jokubaitis<\/p><\/div>\n

Following the game I asked his coach Saras Jasikevicius about where he sees Jokubaitis\u2019s future. I had meant as he developed as a player and not actually where he saw him playing but he ended up answering both questions which was an eye opener.<\/p>\n

“We hope his future is in Barcelona. I don\u2019t know what the future holds for him. It\u2019s up to him. We always say to all the young kids, he is doing all the work, he has a great work ethic and he\u2019s young. He is not going to play a lot of games in a row consistently but he progresses here. We believe in him, we love him and he entered the team in a great way as far as bringing the energy to the practice and the game. Let\u2019s not put too much pressure on the kid, he\u2019s 20 years old. His future is in Barcelona.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knicks fans read into this quote as much as you want form someone who has coached and nurtured him for a number of years from his pro start in Lithuania to the bright lights and big stage that Barca provides.<\/p>\n

FINAL BUZZER<\/h2>\n