Somewhere in 2015, James Nanley He showed up for another morning training session for Maccabi Ashdod. The Dolphins knew they had signed a player known as “Head Case,” but hoped the undisputed talent would cover up his past disciplinary problems, which included throwing a ball to his G-League coach and leaving teams every year, mostly in jarring tones. “What am I doing here,” Nanley muttered to himself at the same training session in Ashdod, “I have to be in the Euroleague. “Make $ 700,000 a season,” he told his friends during the tension.
It was not long before Nanelli did make it to the Euroleague. If you ask, for example, one named Zeljko Oberdovic, you will hear only good words about him, as if there is no trace of a player in Ashdod who almost got into a fight with assistant coach Modi Maor. If Nanley can be summed up in one word, it will probably be a “barometer”, for all that that implies: when it’s good – the team usually wins, when the head is not in the right place – the losses start to pile up. This season, Maccabi Tel Aviv feels it in their flesh.
“There is no doubt that we have high expectations of him”
This is reflected in a variety of important statistical parameters: 16 points in wins versus just 10 in losses, excellent percentages from all ranges vs. bad shooting days, an average difference of plus 7 points when on the field in wins versus minus 4 in losses, and when Maccabi surrenders Nanley is more moral compared to wins ( 4 assists in losses versus 2 in wins). The bottom line is clear: Maccabi needs the scorer, the slingshot, the steady hand, and of course – the calm and focused.
“For James, these things are more noticeable than for others because he is one of the most experienced players we have,” said the assistant coach. Doron Perkins“He was in a great position and knows what it takes to win. Every player has ups and downs, but we certainly have high expectations of him. I do not think he has been that bad in recent games, it is a team matter, but I definitely agree that when he is good – Maccabi is good. “
The actor Perkins was a dominant figure in the locker room. Maccabi of recent seasons has carefully selected its players while emphasizing this aspect, has refrained from signing players who are defined as “head cases” and indeed, in recent years only a few disciplinary incidents have been recorded. But a player with a strong head was not only measured in a minority of disciplinary incidents, and the team did not like to see, for example, how Yuval Sussman managed to get into his head and neutralize him almost completely.
No unusual events have been recorded at Nanley so far, but it seems that Maccabi is still careful with him. For example, it was completely removed from the “loop” of players being interviewed before or after games. Maccabi knows that he can sometimes say the wrong thing at the wrong time, so they try to avoid it.
Sucked the directness from Zeliko
Perkins does not look at Nanley as a “bad guy in the good sense”: “He’s just the most experienced of them all, he learned from the toughest coaches Europe has to offer. From Oberdovich he learned how to be direct – you say what you want and that’s it. So maybe it looks outward it seems a little sensitive, but really it’s James leading everyone not by vocals, but by example. He’s the guy who comes first and goes last. “Everyone here expects him to be a leader and he is learning this role slowly.”
If you ask the assistant coach, in order for Nanali to come out of the bad period, a very simple thing has to happen: that Maccabi will play better. ‘Once everyone plays better then his job will be easier. Everyone needs to transcend, not just him. As soon as that happens, we’ll be back to enjoying his good ability. ‘
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