how fun
Maccabi Tel Aviv has already recorded six home games this season. She has already achieved seven wins in the first ten rounds. Including one Wow level victory over Barcelona. And if you ask me (and what’s you forcing to ask, eh?), Then last night’s win over Monaco was the most fun of all. And by the way, may also be the most important of all those achieved so far.
Because the annual or biennial transcendence against the powerful Barcelona is spectacular and great, but something that sometimes remains in the power of a bonus. Like the pair of insignificant victories achieved in the previous bad season, which led the Yellows nowhere. The rest of the home victories this season, with all due respect, were those that Maccabi had to take. But yesterday, at a stage when victories and places in the table are already being counted, the Israeli champion met a potential rival for the eight-man struggles. And defeated it in general and by a handsome gap in particular, one that might at the end of the 34th round make a difference between the playoffs and not.
And yes, I know, top dreams and Final Four dreams are scattered everywhere and are heard by word of mouth among the Yellows. And to some extent justice. And yet, as long as it has not been proven otherwise (and in my opinion, it has not yet been proven otherwise), Maccabi Tel Aviv strives first and foremost to enter places that allow players to play even after the regular season ends. Places she has not really known for a very long time. Places that may well be possible after the victory against the team from the French Princesses.
And on the way and as mentioned above, what fun it was yesterday in the hand of old Elijah. Because beyond the crazy atmosphere that her audience knows how to produce a home game uniform, yesterday the host provided a game that was pleasing to the eye. Even at the level of commitment that seems to envelop each of the ten players who took part in the game. Even at the level of offensive quality that seemed to trickle down last night from the hands of the leading players, facing a talented and athletic opponent, though not particularly smart.
The elevator doors opened for Wilbkin already during the first
The pre-match discourse against Monaco revolved mainly around the issue of Scotty Wilbkin. Well, you know, he’s in a bad time. Well, you know, for the first time, who knows how long, he did not pick up a single three-pointer for medicine in the last game in Moscow. The one who in the last six rounds threw 29 threes but scored only 5 of them. And everyone was looking for the reasons. And everyone wondered about the consequences.
But one who knows, will also create a solution.
Because Scotty Wilbkin does not play smarter in one game and less clever in another. The degree of wisdom remains constant. And Scotty Wilbkin sees no better game in one game and less good in the game after. Game vision remains constant and the Scot remains the same Wilbkin. But this Wilbkin needs to score. on the outside. That’s all the secret and all the magic. So that from there he can build whatever he wants to do on offense. So that from there he could force the opponent to shrink or stretch, hysterically, lest the franchise player, like the song’s article, rain a sea of threes on both my eyes. Then, as mentioned, from the moment the outside shooting comes in, everything becomes much easier. Easy to navigate, easy to decide, easy to deliver and easy to penetrate.
So one who knows, and his name in Israel Sapropolus, thought and thought and came from home with a solution. And this solution is designed to free Wilbkin from the very first move. And to illustrate and emphasize this, he drew for his scorer a rather unusual exercise. The mice in you must have heard of the elevator exercise. This is an exercise in which two highs are blocked in favor of a sling, in a way that they open a space between them, allow the sling to pass and cross, and then they are closed shoulder to shoulder, in a way that simulates closing elevator doors. Hence, obviously, the name.
And now for the exercise. Instead of the sling (say Wilbkin) coming out of the elevator doors, it is the tall Zizic who is assisted here by the blockers of Evans and Taylor. That the elevator door closes behind them. Who capture within it Motionas, the high rival. Now, when there is no tall opponent to barefoot, Wilbkin can use Zizic’s block and flip the try. And put behind him all the non-threesome talk. And get into the game. Through the elevator.
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When Wilbkin detects a ditch
So one three, in this case, heralded the flood on the way. And as mentioned, 12 was thrown by Wilbkin yesterday. 6 of them scored. And from there, sure and sure when the opposing coach benefited from keeping the heavy-legged Motionas on the floor, the paths opened for them on the way to the ring. Surely with Derek Williams waiting in the corner, a tall player who right now everyone is afraid to gamble on, lest he continue to score in the 50 percent range off the arc.
We will demonstrate. In a move now seen, a customer from the first quarter blocks Wilbkin to Žižić, to delay the defensive reaction at the start of the move. And snatches on the way some little Bombia to the face. When the ball gets to him, his guard Westerman also knows that tonight he will also keep Wilbkin up to the halfway line, if need be. And when Motionas tests his doubles dancing skills with the locked Zizic + Pal-Faye is afraid to leave Williams in the corner + Mike James is not really interested in what’s going on, then the road to happiness seems easier than ever.
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And now for the last quarter. This time the lock is Reynolds and the lock is Donta Hall (excellent). Andosic keeps Wilbkin high and no one comes to help from Williams or Nanley. In short, another ditch and another light basket by Wilbkin. pleasure.
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Last move, a bit different but demonstrates a similar point. Please note Wilbkin, who gets a guard block here. And takes advantage of the fact, again, that Mike James is not interested in taking part in the defensive course. And rushes towards the extension. And notice please the hesitation of Will Thomas, the one who keeps Williams in the corner, who looks and looks and lingers because of this with the help of Žižić. And snatches the dunk.
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In short, and do not tell yourself stories of basketball built from the inside out and all the other battered clichés that are played on an automaton. Wilbkin is first and foremost a scorer. This is what he is and this is who he is. And when the shooting comes in, and so it did yesterday, he becomes unstoppable. And-wow, how unstoppable he was yesterday. At the level of the Snoopy Disco.
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Dismantle James
And on the other hand, there was Mike James. That is, he did not really have it.
This is not the first time this season that Monaco’s mega guard has scored 1/9 for three points. So it was with the losing game in Basconia. In general, James’ seasonal average in outside shots is currently only about 25%, which is an incredible figure in itself. And yet, it was clear that the route to a French foreign victory yesterday passes through the canals of the man thrown out of CSKA.
When the guard who had previously played in Hamburg was signed here, the idea was that he could provide a Sussman effect. And just as Zoss was given a fairly regular place in the top five, despite his offensive ailments, to disrupt the opponent’s swaddle / de colo, so the right niche was created for Taylor. Who took her with both hands. Who took Mike James’ four-limbed tank top. And made him miserable in form. And it’s not that James has given up or lost interest in offense, as he sometimes does this season. Mike James yesterday got a record time on the floor (for this season), with close to 36 minutes. In which he struggled and fought offensively, but could not cope whenever Taylor or Evans kept him (unlike Dibertolomeo, had he dismantled the form).
And yes, the defensive focus on James has created quite a few defensive difficulties, especially when it comes to defensive rebounds in the first half. True, there was a certain and calculated risk here in terms of the potential damage from players such as Bacon or Andosic, but it turned out to be a reasonable and perfectly reasonable bet. And Maccabi Tel Aviv, as one defensive unit, did everything to make the life of the redhead on the other side unbearable. And succeeded.
For example here. Notice how high Zizic goes to make it harder for James to start penetrating. And notice how Williams and Cloiaro join in to block his penetration direction, in the face of insufficient offensive spacing on the other side, and how Wilbkin arrives to cut off his delivery angle as well. Very nice.
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And notice, in the matchup against Keenan Evans, how the opposing star guard tries to dribble and change direction for the most part, without producing any advantage for himself. And at the end, another gets in front of him and Williams rushes towards him both to prevent penetration into the basket at the beginning of the move and also to make sure he kills and prevents a reasonable shot at the end.
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4>5?
Everyone has known for a long time that 3 is better than 2. Yannis Sapropoulos, it seems, has been trying for some time to prove that 4 is bigger and better than 5. Or rather, that four players who contribute on offense are better than five. And therefore adheres, at any given moment, to the single brake method in the whole vehicle. Yesterday, in about 31 minutes shared by Taylor and Cloiaro, the team received from both, together, a round and stable total of 0 points. Out of 5 shots per basket. Common. And look at this miracle: it did not stop Maccabi Tel Aviv from producing a season record of 95 points. And not just 95 points, but in a game where the home team produces only 2 points from bursting attacks.
I repeat: Maccabi Tel Aviv scored 93 points in an orderly attack yesterday, and that is when it usually plays with four attacking players and one back brake. And she did it with great shooting percentages from all ranges. And she did it (too) because the opponent did not know how to adjust defensively in front of the only brake. And she did it in style and with aesthetic and impressive basketball. Which will not necessarily be enough for her down the road, as long as she continues to voluntarily give up one player every five.
Play with two scorers
Tomorrow, the Yellows will meet the ex-Dorsey, the one who came out of Wilbkin’s rescue to play for Olympiacos as a clear scorer, alongside a clear coordinator (Slokas / Wakap). His replacement at Maccabi, in practice, is James Nanley, who is a player in a slightly different position, with a different set of features, different physical dimensions and a slightly different orientation. Even Nanley, like Dorsey, likes (very) to dribble. And Nanley, like Dorsey, thinks first of all shooting and then other things.
And the fit, in terms of Sapropolus, to be honest, is remarkably similar to the one we saw in the Dorsey era. That means there are still three players most often involved during the pick and roll. Wilbkin, some tall – Vanalli. And to them should be added two more that are in the corners. Like last season. Like last season. As in the season, the truth, that before. Well, hence these are already mostly refinements of angles, spacing and talent. And in the fourth quarter yesterday, connect to the pair of scorers, and from there to the whole team, all the parameters that are required to explode and eliminate the opponent. Without too much sophistication or too creative thoughts, but simply at a good level of execution – on the way exploits the weaknesses and mistakes of the opponent.
So here, Maccabi is running an exercise called Spanish pick and roll (blocking + blocking back to the blocker). Wilbkin on the deciding standard. Nanley on the blocking standard to the blocking. And the defense reacts hysterically (i.e., except for James, who doesn’t really care). And from there the road is short to Evans in the corner.
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And here, right after, Maccabi runs exactly the same exercise. Well, this time the Monaco players cover the corner a little more. And who is left free? Who is? Who is? Who is? Who is? Oh, that’s Nanley. And that’s a trick. and Shabbat Shalom.
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Against Olympiacos, at least at the level of defensive resistance, the craft is supposed to be much harder. We will follow up on the matter.
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