Haida Zus
Since I feel like we’re all friends already, you and I, so please let me get you guys a little behind the scenes of writing this column. The technique is this: at the end of a game, after the idea is already in the head, I send jeep timings to the sports channel’s mighty new media department. And when I get home, more or less, the jeeps land on them by email – and then it’s time to write a plus and embed them in the text.
It was the same yesterday, and after the nice victory game over Basconia, I sent the schedules to Yishai from the new media. But then, then, Yuval Sussman spoke to Nir Kaplan’s microphone, and fired everywhere (in Sussman’s terms, yes?), And noise and volcano, and floating and foaming. It was wonderful, and changed what I had planned in mind and in advance, so with you forgiveness and with Zus the thanks.
It seems that Yuval Sussman has been with us for ages, but the 22-year-old has not yet decided, it seems, what he wants to be when he grows up. He’s like someone who graduated from the army but really got around to it at home, so he’s not in a hurry to decide what he will study / what he will do / where he will live the day after – so it remains (for now) to live the dream in his parents’ house. This is how Sussman’s recent time feels, that under the auspices of the warm hug he received from his club, he may not have yet felt the significance of the big, cruel world outside, and allowed himself to be pampered, metaphorically, accordingly.
There may have been a distance from one unflattering article, or another unpleasant text (and unfortunately, I discovered that the trigger did not actually come from this column. Dammit), to help him hatch from the swamp around him. Zus may be too nice to understand, but if he has read in some places that there is dissatisfaction with him, then he should know that this message was sent by his club, which quite rightly, is concerned about the product of the talent that should serve as his face for quite a few years.
Zus, always the nice one, has snatched the craze, and if he wants to be a basketball player, but not just a basketball player but a player, then he must find a way to preserve that craze; That will prevent him from giving up and compromising his status; That will prevent him from agreeing to cooperate with the offensive hierarchy that makes him a statistician; That he will oblige him to fight, even in front of the people he loves, appreciates or appreciates, so that he can get the place to which he is important that he is entitled.
After his fall game against Olympiacos, I wrote here that there is no doubt that Maccabi Tel Aviv loves Yuval Sussman, and there is no doubt that it also promoted him a lot. The same is true of Yannis Sapropoulos. But as long as the club assigns him or the coach assigns him a role that amounts to waiting his turn in the corner, his place is not there. Last night’s win game against Basconia only reinforces that feeling. Sussman, in the same Pantheon interview, explained That time Played as a team, That time Gave the EXTRA PASS, unlike previous times, and this time, in my translation, he felt a partner and an integral part of the attacking game.
A few years ago, a basketball man, whom I respect very much, told me that he sees Yuval Sussman as diamond elements. And not only in his octopus and wonderful defensive play, but also in his offensive potential. This man, by the way, has been working since yesterday alongside the original Diamantidis. Sussman, if you ask him, is also craving for a role where he is a significant part of the piece, and this is the role he should demand, shout and scream (in Sussmanit, yes?) Inwardly and within the group. To insist that he is not just a corner player, and to watch and learn from Omri Caspi, who even in his current and rather bad condition, his WOOOO screams can not be ignored in every move and position, which signify that he wants a ball here and now.
Yuval Sussman must be a player who is part of the decision-making on the floor, or at least get a real opportunity to experience and try it at high levels. If Maccabi Tel Aviv is unable to provide it to him regularly and systematically – even after he demands it and insists – he should go somewhere else where the rope will be released to him. To return to Maccabi? He will always be able to. Going back to playing corner basketball? also.
Haida Zus. You played it yesterday, a bit in the game and a lot in the interview. Get, from me in appreciation, Snoopy Disco that is all yours.
via GIPHY
Moral
Basconia, unlike previous years, is not a large defensive group. Certainly not recently. How not big? Against Fenerbahce she snatched 96 points last Tuesday. Before that she got 93 against CSKA, which can still be understood, but also 95 points against the same injured and missing version of Alba Berlin – who had a hard time scoring a goal against Maccabi. And yet, yesterday the Israeli champion scored a record number of points this season (91). When her two scorers, Scotty Wilbkin and Tyler Dorsey, score 10 together.
So wait a minute. If we have already seen, statistically, that the less Wilbkin scores = Maccabi wins; And if we saw last night that Wilbkin and Dorsey do not score = Maccabi wins and scores a lot, then it follows that Maccabi is better without them, yes? Without them the ball moves, without them others are common, without them there is suddenly confidence in other players who wither due to the usual dominance and the regular dribbles. So here is the moral of your mind. And you have a conclusion.
Great conclusion. really. The only problem is that this is the wrong conclusion.
It is true that the Yellows managed to win like this yesterday, but without Dorsey and especially without Wilbkin she will not get anywhere. The conclusion to be drawn and the insight to be drawn is quite different, and should have been reached a long time ago. Sorry, and it was supposed to reach Yannis Sapropoulos a long time ago. In a paraphrase of the words of the poet Jonah Wallach in an ancient song, we are told that there is another basketball. And it’s good that someone knows about it. Basketball where you play, With Wilbkin, at a different pace.
Lest you get me wrong, I’m not really hinting at scribbles ever made about moving a ball, and I really, really do not refer to the engravings of the ball that gets energy when handed over, because that’s the nonsense of coaches who prefer compliments over victories. I mean, you can vary the Yellows’ attacking game, and you can differentiate the dribbling differently. This is, and not otherwise, the moral of the game against Basconia.
Because you can also move a ball through Wilbkin. Here, for example, he gets the ball in motion, runs a non-static pick-and-roll, and produces a hockey assist – that is, delivers the delivery that leads to Caspi’s assist. pleasure.
via GIPHY
Not that John Dibertolomao’s dribbles in the next section are particularly helpful, but Wildusa’s tight defense of Wilbkin can be used, even when the ball is not with Wilbkin, to punish from other places. Here, after Wilbkin’s marking with his hand and under the auspices of Othello Hunter’s last huge block, the ball reaches Angelo Cloiaro in the corner. And when Cloiaro penetrates, Wildosa does not help, and even then Wilbkin can be used to produce points.
via GIPHY
It’s probably nicer than the constant never-ending dribbling, where even most players can’t grow up because they lose touch with the ball and confidence accordingly, and also have difficulty stabilizing in an accurate position, as Wilbkin tends to disperse with his dribbling from place to side. Not that I am against moves of dribbles and one-on-one, but think that it is possible and worthwhile to reduce doses, and also the number of suicide shots. Like in this one, where Wilbkin shoots a very hard three (with a lot of time on the clock) and more in front of the outstretched hands of a monster named Pal. Can he score such? Obviously. Is he lifting too many of these? Cursed.
via GIPHY
And if it was misunderstood otherwise, then also yesterday Maccabi’s orderly attacking game was based on similar, familiar and static principles. Even yesterday she was not committed enough to a game of running. But yesterday the doses were better, and yesterday the others, and especially Chris Jones, performed better.
The others who decide
Jones has not had bad numbers at all so far. And leave you for a moment with the expectations of Stranger X who landed in the position of coordinator in the summer, but please compare Jones against Jones’ resume. To date, the man holds over 59% in 2-point shots; Over 40% to 3; With an assist ratio of 1: 2. Really not bad. Yesterday, and not for the first time this season, he was the man with whom the ball sat safest, in just over 12 minutes in which he played.
Okay, so had this nice all-hop with Hunter, in the regular exercise where (this time) Dorsey and Blazer are in the corners.
via GIPHY
And there were such moves as well. Notice how exactly Jones initially pulls Hydraitis to the right, and then seduces the giant Pal into it. Then, when two jump on it, a quick spin allows a delivery to Elijah Bryant, a delivery that is all – well, tell me – hockey Assist.That is, the delivery that led to Bryant’s assist to Hunter.
via GIPHY
And there was, of course, Jones’ regular delivery to Bryant under the basket. Since she succeeded, it is also possible to run the same exercise and allow Bryant to be the creator. Personally, I prefer Bryant as one who comes out of blockages that are not such static, but there is no doubt – in the right dose – that this man also knows how to do a thing or two, including during pick and roll moves. And this Snake Dribble, where he holds Hydraitis on his back? Incredibly accurate and polished.
via GIPHY
Well, then yesterday those were enough. Together with Sussman of course. Along with a few not-so-bad energy minutes – and especially DiBartolomeo’s shooting ability. Very nice. Not enough in the future, but very nice.
Hunter and Cloiaro
With all due respect, and there are, the two standouts last night were Hunter and Cloiaro. In this order. Othello Hunter, playing as Othello Hunter, is one rank above all others. Leave the statistics page for a moment, quite impressive this time, and focus on the other things the man regularly does. For example in defense.
Here, in the face of Dragic’s brother’s pick and roll move, Hunter BLUE shouts at Dorsey. And blue, in Sopropolis, is a defensive move commonly referred to as Topside, or ICE. That is, Hunter instructs Dorsey to direct Dragic towards the longitude. And waiting and waiting for whom for whom for whom. Until the whistle (borderline).
via GIPHY
And take Cloiaro for example. The man thrown by his coach onto the floor every moment he was bounced by Ivanovic Alec Peters. The man whose points serve as a completely reliable barometer for the Yellows’ ability to win. The man who does a lot of gray actions that make a difference, like in the next case. Wilbkin dribbles, dribbles, dribbles and dribbles until he is thrown. Henry, who is near Cloiaro, is aware of the danger lurking and tries to close it for a rebound, even at the cost of turning his back on the ball. And still fails to prevent the alert Cloiaro from taking over – and winning the ball.
via GIPHY
To the corner
Almost to the end, a small offer. Not a bad game, statistically, was yesterday for Dragon Bender. really. He even scored two threes, one of which came when Sapropoulos went for the regular sophistication and threw him into battle at the chin position, to take advantage of the heavy legs on the other side. The thing is, and we’ll say it over and over again, that Lavender is currently not allowed to make decisions. Any of his dribbling? danger to life. Any delivery? Fear of God. Including (but not limited to) in this case.
via GIPHY
Bender really wants and strives, even on defense. But far too many times he is far from accurate, as in this course – in which he is somehow stuck between Pal and Polonara.
via GIPHY
Therefore, at least as long as the Israeli champion continues to play two-a-side basketball in the corner, it should be the man’s place. And not that they do not try it occasionally, but the frequency should increase a lot. If there are corners, it’s better for Bender to age. From there he will occasionally be able to score. There he will be able to attract a high opponent and thus help clear the extension from a defensive threat. From there he will be able to help and pounce on rebounds on offense. From there, no less important, will not have to decide or dribble.
Three points to go
1. From six will one come out? Since the prophecy was given to fools, then here is an informed assessment, say, of the fool who writes this column. Seven teams have secured / will secure their place in the Euroleague playoffs, if something unexpected does not happen or if they do not experience injuries / illnesses and the rest of the rain does not fall on us. These are CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Zenit St Petersburg, Milan and Andulo Zero. Not necessarily in that order.
On the eighth ticket, and not necessarily the eighth place, you may face up to six: Zalgiris Kaunas (currently 11 wins by 58%), Olympiacos (10 wins by 56%), Valencia (10 wins by 53%), Fenerbahce E (9 wins by 47%), Baskonia and Maccabi Tel Aviv (currently 9 wins by 45%). Against Olympiacos, the Yellows already have inferiority, due to a double loss. Against Basconia a built-in advantage, in light of the double victory. This battle will certainly be able to come to a decision based on a point here or there, according to balances and break-evens, double, triangular and so on. How do you say with us? Every voice matters. Every voice determines. Every voice is decisive.
2. Financial – The last thing Omri Caspi wants is for us to talk about him in a historical perspective, to analyze his level of play in relation to his glorious past. Because Caspi wants, expects and is convinced that he can and must be good now, and not because of who he once was. And my money is not good now. These are not just the weak averages or the bad percentages, nor even the negative assist-loss ratio, but the feeling that he is fighting and failing, straining and failing. So Haida Caspi, come and get some sumptuous treatment. That way it can not go on. Real Madrid feels like the beauty of a stage to show everyone where the fish tend to go for convenience.
3. Thank you – I finished the previous column with a point aimed at Avsheli, who eats bitters in a hospital due to the fucking corona. To my amazement I received a flood of messages of support, from all directions and past, all of which were warmth, empathy and love. So thank you so much, on behalf of Avshali, my family and my name. Appreciate it very much. And sure it’s okay.