The second ticket to the semi-finals of the State Cup will be distributed tonight (Sunday) at 18:00 in the derby of humiliation: Maccabi Rishon Lezion, which reached the final two years ago, will host Nes Ziona, which is in excellent shape.
Rishon Lezion won the league game between the two two weeks ago, with a record display by Noam Avivi, but a lot has changed since then. Ness Ziona made a change in the squad and got great momentum, while Guy Goodes’ runner-up is a bit faltering.
Rishon Lezion returned to the league last week and lost 71:69 to Gilboa / Galil in a dramatic game. Achilles Mitchell has been looking good lately (12.9 points, 8.9 rebounds), but Goodes has received too little so far from Daryl Monroe and Golan Gut, who are showing instability.
Ness Ziona replaced three foreigners and looks like a completely different team, with Brian Angola in charge of the big change, scoring 21.3 points per game. Along with him, the Oranges from the heart of the colony have already recorded five consecutive victories in all competitions, including a particularly impressive league victory over Hapoel Jerusalem.
Wayne Selden, who was slightly injured recently, returns to the squad, with the one left out being Kwan Chitham. The injured Nimrod Levy in his foot will continue to be absent, which means that Tel Dan, who has shown wonderful ability recently, is expected to get many minutes in position number 4. Uriel Trotsky, the new loanee in Holon, will make his debut.