One of the burning issues at Maccabi Tel Aviv in the last two years is the position of coordinator. Since Scotty Wilbkin joined the team, many claim he is more effective when he plays with a natural ball carrier by his side. Maccabi also understood this, but had a hard time finding the right man.
- At 21:05 on SPORT5: Maccabi Tel Aviv against Real Madrid
Jeremy Fargo was supposed to be the one, but in his and Wilbkin’s full season together under Nevan Spahija, he was injured and then found no common ground with Yannis Sapropoulos. Last season the eyes were on Nate Walters, who was supposed to be the one to turn Wilbkin into doing what he does best: being a scorer.
This year, Maccabi took a very big bet with Chris Jones, a player who has never played in the Euroleague or the EuroCup and arrived at a relatively low cost. Although the start was not statistically bad, Maccabi were not really “closed” on the new acquisition, and continued to examine the coordinators’ market.
Agents in Israel and abroad stated at the time that the Yellows had asked them to check the availability of certain coordinators, whether alongside Jones or in his place, but no move had matured, and throughout Maccabi made it clear that they believe in Jones and understand that he is at the beginning of a process. Tuition.
In recent rounds it seems that patience with Jones is starting to pay off. Although the last time he scored in double digits was against Basconia in the 13th round, he began to meet the goal for which they brought him: to run the game, control the pace, and most importantly almost never lose balls (half a loss per game in the last seven games).
The Jones issue deserves to be examined in terms of cost versus benefit, and in these worlds there is no doubt that this is an injury to the Scouting Department. With a financial investment that is about two-thirds lower than Walters’ deal, Maccabi received a guard who produces, at best, better numbers, in a lower number of minutes, and at worst does not fall short of the statistical line that his predecessor set.
At the micro level, there is no doubt that Jones is more efficient than Walters in most parameters. He scores at a higher percentage of all ranges and holds the player he is guarding at a lower percentage at a lower amount of minutes. And when you weigh its low cost, there is no doubt that this is a good acquisition of Maccabi.
But at the macro level, it seems that Jones is not succeeding in making Maccabi a better team. Of course, it does not depend on all the differences between the excellent team last season and the sputtering one of the season, (Corona, anyone?) But the bottom line, Maccabi should be concerned that last season, with Walters who was less effective than Jones, and with the flood of injuries the team experienced , Including a long injury to Walters himself – a team was built that secured a place in the playoffs and galloped to the Final Four. Therefore, the next step in Jones’ development is to become a player who is part of a winning team, and not just a better and more efficient screw than his predecessor.
