One of the main keys to success in sports is to turn what appears to be a disadvantage from which you suffer into your relative advantage over the opponent. The one who probably does it better than any player who has been at Maccabi Tel Aviv in recent years is Bonzie Colson, who throughout his career has gotten used to quite a few eyebrows being raised in his direction.
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In fact, if we run the wheels of time back it is likely that in “old basketball” Colson would have had a much harder time finding the place. The American presents rather strange body dimensions – he stands 1.98 meters tall, enjoys a 2.13 meter arm bar and weighs according to the available data 102 kg – these dimensions, combined with his playing style, make him a tweener – a player who travels between positions and does not occupy a defined slot , which caused quite a few colleges to doubt the possibility that he would find success and avoid recruiting him.
“Today there are many short players in relation to the position they play,” he said after he had already been recruited to Notre Dame College (where he even played as a center), “there are many people who are simply basketball players in their essence, they do not have a defined position, and I am one of them. I do not have a position , but I can do a little bit of everything. That makes me a very special player.”
Coulson is definitely an unusual player in the landscape. In his two seasons in Strasbourg and in Kershiaka, he was one of the best players outside of the Euroleague, but when he arrived at Maccabi Tel Aviv there were still quite a few question marks as to his ability to be dominant in the first season on the big stage of the continent. In any case, here, too, Coulson asked to talk about the field and with a lot Big displays to forget the skeptical voices, set fire to the hall again and again and on the way also become a particularly beloved figure in the current group.
The one who played alongside Coulson last year in Krashyaka is none other than former Maccabi Tel Aviv, Michael Roll, who currently plays in Tunisia’s Monster. “Bonzi is a great teammate,” Roll said in a conversation I had with him, “you can see he loves playing basketball, which always helps. He’s just a good person who respects everyone and wants to be part of the team. He plays for his friends, he’s not selfish at all and he’s insanely talented “.
At the same time as the qualities that Coulson provides in terms of personality, in less than half a season he also became one of the most important players in Oded Ketch’s staff professionally, probably the most important with the exception of Lorenzo Brown. The forward has a lot to improve in terms of his defensive vigilance and discipline, but anyway according to InStat, he is still the player with the defensive efficiency index (the number of points the opponent scores per 100 possessions when he is on the court) among those who play more than 10:30 minutes per game with 100.08. At the same time, in the offensive efficiency index, he is in third place in the group with 105.08.
These advanced indicators are of course also reflected in the data of the entire group. Per 40 minutes in which Colson is on the court Maccabi Tel Aviv scores 85.5 points (third place in the team) while in the corresponding category, which gives the amount of points the opponent scores per 40 minutes when Colson plays, he registers 81.2 which gives him second place in Maccabi Tel Aviv. Colson is also In second place in points per possession in the team with 1.16, this when on the other side of the court he lowers his opponent to 43.5% in shots under guard, a figure in which he is second to Jeral Martin.
At age 27, Colson is in the midst of a simply outstanding rookie season in the Euroleague. The yellow forward is one of the best newcomers who arrived at the factory this season, and you can see a clear expression of this in the data.
Of the 31 Rockies who play an average of more than 10 minutes per night, Colson is fifth in points (11.0), second in steals (1.4), third in rebounds (5.4), first in team points while on the court per game average (54.60), third in plus/minus index (2.80), fourth in offensive efficiency (105.08), and fifth in points per possession (1.16). Colson, it seems due to the impressive ability and the beautiful numbers that support it, can become one of the leading players in the future of the factory, if he does not return to the NBA.
If you survived this flood of data, you already understand – as Coulson himself claimed, he really knows how to do almost anything. Maccabi Tel Aviv got its hands on a rising stock in the summer, and in this case Oded Ketch meanwhile manages to get the best out of it. Colson gives Maccabi Tel Aviv tremendous tools, tools that it has not enjoyed for many years.
In practice, already in his first Euroleague season Colson is just as dominant and significant and possibly even more so than the well-remembered Elijah Bryant was in his second season. Even compared to Devin Smith’s start, by the way, Colson is holding up, as he posted better numbers in his debut season than the legendary small forward’s corresponding season.
Coulson won’t necessarily end up at Smith’s ankles, but it seems that looking ahead he may continue to increase the consensus around him, a consensus that will at least be reminiscent of Smith’s. As a result, beyond the tremendous and surprisingly easy move to keep Lorenzo Brown, Maccabi Tel Aviv must take care to keep the forward, who still seems very hungry to keep getting closer to his ceiling. Coulson’s energy, versatility, wisdom and sacrifice have often allowed him to control the volcano in Eliyahu’s hand, this while playing quietly and changing games as a matter of course. Such an X factor is rare to find at this level.
“As soon as I read reports that he might sign with Maccabi, I called him and told him to take this opportunity with both hands,” reveals Roll in the conversation, “I still follow the team, I always will. Maccabi has a place in my heart, I love it. Bonzi was a star in the Champions League And he can become a EuroLeague star, no doubt. He needs to continue to improve and gain experience and strength in the EuroLeague. He is a very special player, not every small forward can take a rebound like he does, post up and shoot. If he improves his dribbling and the pick and roll he is could become a star.”
There are few players who land in Tel Aviv without Euroleague experience and within 6 months already turn themselves into one of the critical pieces in the puzzle. If Coulson gains trust, continues the upward trend, and does not leave for a more attractive destination, he can become the face of the team in the coming years, the face of an era. As far as Maccabi Tel Aviv is concerned, it will just have to make sure that it keeps him for the rest of the way, and does not allow him to slip to the next stop when the first contract ends.
