{"id":96156,"date":"2023-10-02T07:03:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T07:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=96156"},"modified":"2023-10-02T10:09:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T10:09:16","slug":"hard-nosed-dzikic-once-again-casts-spell-on-maccabi-as-jerusalem-captures-winner-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/hard-nosed-dzikic-once-again-casts-spell-on-maccabi-as-jerusalem-captures-winner-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"“Hard nosed” Dzikic once again casts spell on Maccabi as Jerusalem captures Winner Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aleksandar Dzikic\u2019s Hapoel Jerusalem has cast some sort of spell on Maccabi Tel Aviv because it seems that every time the two teams face one another, the Reds end up on top which was the case in the Winner Cup Final where they took home the 79-71 win<\/a><\/strong>. It\u2019s as if the Serbian has some sort of magic spell that he casts and poof, his team knows how to take out the country\u2019s lone Euroleague representative time and tin=me again. It doesn\u2019t seem to matter if it\u2019s at the Jerusalem Arena, Yad Eliyahu or the Drive In, Jerusalem who are now under new ownership than last season just don\u2019t miss a beat.<\/p>\n

While the preseason title is nice, it\u2019s certainly not the be all and end all as to what may be coming down the pike the rest of the season as we just entered the month of October. There\u2019s the State Cup, European competitions and the league championship all up for grabs over the next 8+ months, so this trophy\u2019s significance has to be taken with a grain of salt as there are plenty of challenges to come.
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Aleksandar Dzikic – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nThe key going forward for Hapoel Jerusalem will be to take this title in proportion and then go and work on the next. That\u2019s never easy, but there is no question that Dzkkic won\u2019t allow his team to even think their season goals are done, no way, no how that would ever occur.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big believer in reps, the process and practices and meetings, we need to add more of that. Even the final result we learned a lot playing a Euroleague team he we can learn from that\u2019s. When they are super demanding and challenging we will come out of this game a little better. We don\u2019t have talent on their (Maccabi) level but there are things that we can learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerusalem\u2019s new captain Levi Randolph also expressed the same sentiments, \u201cThis has to make us hungry and we have to go back to practice and continue to work. Look at the mistakes and continue to build. We can\u2019t predict the season but we can prepare each and every day and we can keep trying to jell as we want to be at our peak at the end of the season.”\u00a0
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Levi Randolph – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nSure trophies are nice, but as Dzikic explained Maccabi was certainly missing some significant players, \u201cIf we want to be honest it\u2019s helpful when they don\u2019t play with Wade Baldwin and Josh Nebo. I\u2019m not fooling myself but at the same time I\u2019m not going to say my guys didn\u2019t deserve to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerusalem deserved to win without a doubt as they came into the second half down 43-35 with a fire in their eyes to stop Oded Katash\u2019s team from scoring and that is what they did. They held Maccabi to a pitiful 21-8 frame and rode that to the victory. <\/p>\n

The 3rd quarter Jerusalem blitz is below:<\/strong>
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