{"id":73680,"date":"2022-12-01T11:45:21","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T11:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=73680"},"modified":"2022-12-01T12:37:22","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T12:37:22","slug":"the-capable-hands-of-aleksandar-dzikic-for-jerusalems-bench-boss-patience-is-a-virtue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/the-capable-hands-of-aleksandar-dzikic-for-jerusalems-bench-boss-patience-is-a-virtue\/","title":{"rendered":"The capable hands of November’s coach of the month Aleksandar Dzikic: For Jerusalem’s bench boss patience is a virtue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hapoel Jerusalem may not have played their best basketball game of the season, but as they say, a win is a win is a win. And that\u2019s what Aleksabadr Dzikic\u2019s squad did, they downed a feisty Bakken Bears team 89-80<\/a> to run their winning streak to 7 games across all competitions while also qualifying for at least a place in the Round of 16 Group Stage Play In Playoff. Has the capital city squad reached 7th heaven under the Israeli League’s November coach of the month?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s odd to say that the Reds didn\u2019t play well as they dished out 27 assists, they grabbed 36 rebounds and shot 11\/27 from deep for just under 41% while shooting for over 61% from two. But they had tons of problems putting the Bears away time and time again, so much so, the Danes were within striking distance all game long.
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Aleksandar Dzikic – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nCould Dzikic\u2019s side have played better defense? <\/p>\n

Most certainly and that aspect was not lost on the coach who said that there was a lot of things that he wasn\u2019t satisfied with from the game. But on the other hand the Reds did have a tough game earlier in the week against Maccabi Tel Aviv that they pulled out and have yet another league game on Saturday night versus a pecky Kiyat Ata team. <\/p>\n

The bottom line is while the defense may not have been the greatest, Jerusalem made it up with their offense which may not be their modus operandi. But when a masked Zach Hankins is unstoppable in the paint and when Speedy Smith running the point like a pro despite being under the weather while Khadeen Carrington and Levi Randolph scored with ease.
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Zach Hankins – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cIt wasn\u2019t our best defensive game with Elijah Childs hitting all those shots,\u201d Game MVP Zach Hankins said. \u201cIt mattered on offense how unselfish the guys are and we are learning to play with each other. My teammates were finding me with great passes and the guys were making plays off the drive and while we did well offensively, the defense has to be at the standard we set.\u201d<\/p>\n

The center has been a double-double machine all season long and is almost an automatic in the paint. Part of that has been Speedy Smith\u2019s ability to find Hankins with ease and sometimes spectacular passes which is something the big man doesn\u2019t take for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s top 2 that I have played with. He\u2019s an amazing point guard and he sees passes that I don\u2019t see sometimes like that back screen he called which is a play we maybe practiced three times. He\u2019s a brilliant point guard.\u201d
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Mareks Mejeris – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nBakken Bears did come into Jerusalem loosey-goosey as they say with nothing to lose due to the fact that at 0-3 they had very little chance of coming back to qualify for even a Play In playoff spot, but that is exactly what made them most dangerous forward Mareks Mejeris explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis game was a little wild. Good thing that at the end we went up with more energy and took the win. We need to stick with the plan and today it kind of worked. The Bears are a talented and they all wanted to perform, play hard and beat us. So it\u2019s tough in those situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dzikic also spoke about the risks and dangers of playing against a team that can go out and just play with no pressure on them, \u201cWhen you play against a team without pressure, the result is that the players are trying everything and their shots are falling. I wish we played a bit closer to the ball like we usually do as Childs was making plays and Skyler Bowlin was making shots on one on one situations.\u201d
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Skyler Bowlin – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nIn fact, Bowlin who spoke to The Sports Rabbi ahead of the game<\/a><\/strong> was a bit disappointed that his team didn\u2019t find a way to win the game as they had been so close and what they could have done to put them over the top, \u201cThe offensive boards that they got. A few more of those that we could have gotten could have allowed us to go on transition which could have resulted in a few more buckets. We got stagnant on some of the final possessions as well.\u201d <\/p>\n

Interestingly enough, Dzikic used the Bowlin interview\u2019s headline, “Everyone in the lockerroom believes that we can win”<\/a> as motivation for his players and maybe that had a little part in the victory.
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