When the 2021/22 season began, a little over half a year ago, there is no way Guy Goodes imagined such a scenario. The coach, who started the season on the lines at Maccabi Rishon Lezion, found himself in the Final Four of the FIBA Champions League with Hapoel Holon, when on the way he went through abysses, difficult decisions, and ascents to heights that could not be dreamed of.
What was not there? Rishon LeZion under Goodes did not connect, former chairman Yitzhak Perry made coach Zobor in the media and eventually the parties parted towards the end of 2021. Two weeks later Goodes signed in Holon, which was then unconnected, on the verge of expulsion from Europe. Fast-forward to mid-April, He is two wins away from a historic European title win.
Now in a special interview with ONE, the Hapoel Holon coach talks about the shaky season he is going through, what happened at Maccabi Rishon Lezion, the connection with Hapoel Holon, the chances of returning to Israel with the trophy, the Israeli team, Avi Even and Maccabi Tel Aviv, and even Danny Abdia.
Guy, if three months ago I’d told you this is what you’re going through, you’re probably saying I’m crazy.
“Obviously I would not expect it. As we know the sport, there are things you do not expect and can happen. Even when I took the job in Holon I did not know where it was going. I knew there was potential, that there were experienced guys in the team, but I did not know where it was going. “It was a kind of gamble, I could sit at home and concentrate on the team. But I do not know, I actually had a good feeling. In Holon, with the guys there, let’s do it, what can we lose? It’s part of the job – to take things and see where it progresses.” .
Didn’t you think after what you went through with Rishon Lezion that it would be right for you to sit at home for a while, rest and recover? Or was the right alternative for you to go straight back to work?
“There are all kinds of opinions of veteran coaches. Zvika (Sharaf, G.L.) always said, as soon as you have a chance to go back to the coach, there are some, no, rest, gain strength, come back. There is nothing right or a correct formula, “I think it’s a matter of feeling right. My feelings and intuitions were yes to return. Holon is a big club with an audience, atmosphere, total good players. So I went in that direction, I did not think too much.”
I remember that in Holon they still argued with you about the length of the contract, with a second season or without a second season and only until the end of the current season
“I can understand a little bit their apprehension, everyone has their own direction. In the end we reached an equal valley and I think it’s good for both sides.”
You’ve been through a crazy season in your career, this is your hardest season as a coach?
“I do not know if it is difficult. I started it hard with Sunday, I did not think that was what would happen and we entered a bad track. But already in early January I was in Holon. That is what happened unfortunately, I paid the price. Sometimes in life a door closes and another door opens. This is the dynamics of sports. “And to my delight, I quickly got back on track.”
Yitzhak Perry has already apologized to you for what happened, that he came out on top of you in public without making an account even when you were a coach?
“We straightened things out when I came back from the team, we sat and talked. Everything is fine, I have no feelings of anger, there was what was and it was done. Everyone on his side, in his passion. If it was right in the way, obviously not. We have progressed since then, life goes on.”
But such a Zobor made you in the media, I guess you did not go through one when the chairman was just expecting you to go home.
“In the end that’s what he did, I did not like the way and told him. He said he was wrong, we shook hands and move on. Life goes on, you during a career go through good things and bad things.”
If you had stayed first, do you think you would have left her? We see that she is on her way to parting from the Premier League.
“It’s hard to say, they then replaced almost all the foreigners. This is a pretty new team, also a lot of games have passed since I was there. I think it was kind of an extraction. My mistake might have been to stay. I had to leave earlier this year, after what we did. “We reached the maximum for the three years. We continued, and unfortunately it did not work out and the two sides parted ways.”
“We got a bomb in the semi-finals, sometimes a shock puts you on a new path”
You arrived in Holon when she was about to fly from Europe, an unconnected group. What did you do there, you reconnected the group?
“First I sat down with most of the players, especially the top ones, to understand what the problem was. Everyone said their own thing, and then we tried to embark on a new path. “It’s a certain process as it takes in any team when a new coach arrives. I’m glad we also succeeded in the knockout games, and we stayed alive. From there we went step by step. I’m glad we reached the peak today, we went to the Final Four which is something historic.”
What sets today’s Holon apart?
“Character, experience, ability. These three parameters after the last few months were intense on the one hand, but also helped us a lot to connect as a team. Everyone gave what they had to give and got in shape. The last period put us in good shape both individually and as a team.”
You have a connection with a special trio of actors like Joe Ragland, Chris Johnson and Tyros Maggie.
“We have the guys who have the ability to create the points and also the wisdom to create integration and harmony between everyone. They enjoy, love to play with each other and that’s the important thing in a winning team, that everyone knows their place, everyone praises each other, everyone One knows that on any given evening he or someone else can be dominant. “
You are said to be a coach of players. Maggie is considered a not-so-easy type, alongside being a superstar.
“I heard it, but it’s really not true in reality. Maggie is first and foremost an amazing, kind guy, everyone loves him. He trains super-hard, he’s a scorer, there’s nothing to do. When you score you want to score points. He’s a great person, an actor “It works properly. Everyone has good and less good things.”
Before the success in Europe, you had the semi-final of the cup in which you fell apart 83:63 against Bnei Herzliya, a loss that could have hurt all season. Did you have to pick up the group again?
“We got a bomb in the semifinals that we did not expect. I am happy but very fast on the tracks. This game gave us a really serious bomb, we did not expect to fly in the semifinals, we wanted to advance to the final. Sometimes a strong shock puts you in a new way. I think after the semifinals people “Something went around in my head and everyone understood that he needed to do something different to help the team win.”
Guy, you won with Maccabi Tel Aviv as an assistant coach in the European Cup, your dream is now to lift the trophy with Holon?
“I wish we were two games away after reaching the semi-finals. There’s Manresa who’s a fantastic team, there’s Tenerife who’s also a great team. Let’s see who will be the fourth team. “Also in the previous house everyone bet on Glatsray and the Germans Ludwigsburg, and then on Dijon and us. We did something great we finished in the first place that gave us the home advantage, we got where we got, we broke some glass ceiling and want to try to take it one step further.”
How do you see Tenerife, your opponent?
“A typical Spanish team with experience, with a lot of players who have experience. Kyle Wilcher is a very experienced player, Giorgi Sharmadini who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv and everyone knows, old Sasso Salin Guard, Aron Dornkamp another veteran guard, there are a lot of old guys who know what It’s this class. Therefore it will not be easy, the task that awaits us. I hope that about 500 Holon fans will reach the semi-finals and support the team, and maybe another incredible step will be taken. “
At the beginning of the season, it seemed that foreign coaches continued to take over the coaching market in Israel. In the end, Avi Even replaced Yannis, you replaced Buscalia in Holon, today only Hapoel B’Shlosha remains with the Cypriot Libadiotis. Think here that only foreign coaches can succeed. What do you think is the status of the Israeli coach today?
“The Israeli coaches are excellent coaches. There was a new ‘thank you’, they made new rules that will come from high-level European coaches. But we have good coaches here that everyone should get the opportunity and prove themselves. This year we saw the best example – Avi and Maccabi Tel Aviv . Until now, he was only a foreign coach, they did not think an Israeli coach could coach Maccabi, and here came someone with not much experience and made a 180-degree change. I am always in favor of an Israeli coach. With us, unlike Germany and France where you look at processes and a coach can be 5-3 years and not get to something because his way is good, we are a more stressed place, more demanding and with us also the extremes are much higher. “Some losses, some victories, this is our business in Israel and you have to adapt to the situation.”
“Maccabi arrives for the game against Real in good shape, it’s hard to know where this is going”
You know Avi Even very well, you worked with him at Maccabi, his success surprises you?
“She does not surprise me, because he knows the actors very well. What he did in the locker room is one of the important things. He also listened and made the changes that needed to be made. He also sometimes released the rope to creative actors. You see them playing with a different energy, passion. “Otherwise and maybe they are less able to think about what will happen, what will happen on the field. I think he made a big move, seeing Maccabi play today is free.”
You know Real Madrid well, if you were a coach and had the situation to choose Milan or Real, even if you had to lose on purpose, what would you do?
“I do not know, it is impossible to know. Maccabi played very loose because it would not matter to them who to get. Real Madrid has its problems, I do not know what is better to get – Real with all the problems or a less talented team elsewhere. What came out came out “Maccabi comes overall with good fitness and a lot of confidence against a team that has some kind of crisis. It’s hard to know where it’s going, because it has a kind of home game. It has two home games, if you take one everything can be”.
What are the keys for Maccabi?
“In cross-country games you have to win at least one game away, one of two, and then you can bring the decision to Tel Aviv. I think this is what Maccabi will plan to do, I do not know in the first or second game. This is the difficulty two days apart, your chances of losing a game are pretty high. It will be interesting to see how the first game starts. “
Danny Abdia has finished the season. Will he play with the team at the end of June in the Mondobasket qualifiers, or will you let him rest so that he can arrive fresh for the European Championships in September?
“There is a time when the NBA allocates NBA players to play in Europe in terms of days, including training and games. We are testing with Fiba and the NBA if he can play in the qualifiers, I wish he would be both here and here.”
Surely he wants to rest a little
“Our next window is at the end of June, so he has enough time. He has not rested for half a year, rested for a month, a month and a half. We are testing whether he can as I mentioned play with us already in June and then later in the European Championship or not.”
How do you like the combination of team and team coaching?
“Once there is a straight window I disconnect and focus on the team. You have to adapt, like players. You can get a fit player in November and then in February he is with an injury or after an injury, someone who did not play. Fit, who is not fit. “
How is your integration with Pini Gershon the professional manager?
“Combination ten. Pini sits in meetings, expresses opinions. Brainstorming, everyone needs to talk, say what they think. We work in harmony together when everyone’s goal is for the team to succeed.”
Coaches with ego Not everyone was willing to accept that?
“I believe in teamwork, not ‘one man show’. Even when I worked for Maccabi, it was the same. It has benefits, no need to worry, no fear, no ego involvement. “Once you involve ego in everything in life, it doesn’t work out. I strongly believe in teamwork.”
“Pnini can be a good coach, the potential is there”
Do you have a dream to take a double this season with Holon?
“It’s still within reach, if it happens I would be very happy. We should stay modest, come, move forward as a team. There are many more things to improve. If it happens with the help of the name I will be very happy.”
Guy Pnini is on a player and a half standard? Assistant Coach?
“Guy is already a veteran player, also gives all kinds of ideas, we all listen. Overall he is 38, he also has good ideas. I like to consult with players, if players give an interesting idea I do not rule out and test it. So Guy always any idea whatsoever “We are thinking about it in a positive way.”
Will he be a good coach in the future?
“I understood from him that he has intentions. He can be a good coach because the potential is there. Being a coach and a player is different, you have to spend a lot of hours doing things and working. But there is no doubt that Guy has the potential.”
I read that you once said in an interview that your dream is to coach in the NBA. Does it still exist?
“I don’t know if to coach, working there as an assistant coach is something interesting. When Spahija was there I saw this experience. We’ll see if that happens in the future.”
Are you working on it?
Does not work. The NBA is primarily a matter of personal connections, getting to know coaches. If that happens, it will happen. In the meantime I have the job here, and I try to do it in the best way. At the moment, it is not in the right direction. “
Guy, finally, after such a shaky season as you go through, what will be in the final script of her film?
“It’s hard to know. How did Pini (Gershon, JL) once say? ‘You make plans and God sits and laughs.’ You can plan and never know what’s going to happen. It’s left to enjoy the moment and see what happens. “.