Even in its bad season, even when it has bad momentum in the league – Maccabi Rishon Lezion knows how to reach big games. Yesterday (Thursday) she wrote another glorious chapter for her in the growing rivalry with Hapoel Jerusalem, when she defeated the trophy holder 84:90 in the last two years and dropped it described. “This is the spirit of the club,” they said at the end of Rishon LeZion. “It is no coincidence that year after year, even with a reduced budget, we reach the most important classes.”
But despite the great victory, Rishon Lezion is looking ahead and working to strengthen the staff: whoever may join is Jeremy Fargo, Who received an offer. The club is waiting for the answer of the player, who conveyed messages that he now gives priority to the first, also in light of the good relationship with Guy Goodes, whom he knows from their time together from Maccabi Tel Aviv. “It’s a huge win, even bigger than the previous two years, but it must not dazzle us,” Goodes said. “It is still impossible to say that everything is fine. We will be happy today, and tomorrow we will start thinking ahead.”
Back to the game yesterday. Rishon Lezion managed to win despite a bad evening from the line (18 of 31), and a lot thanks Golan is good Who provided a record game of 22 points, including 5 threes, when in fact he rested barely a minute and a half throughout the game. “Of the important games, this is the best game of my career,” the guard-forward said. “I always get to the important games, especially in classes like this. I’m glad it connected to me, I made a tool that I can and I’m glad it worked.”
Gutt continued: “I am the happiest in the world that we managed to win. It is closing a circle for me, that after last season I lost in the semifinals, I managed to reach the final in Rishon Lezion. Happy for the club that proves it belongs to the top of Israeli basketball. .
Gutt was one of four players who underwent intensive treatment to qualify for the semifinals, along with Noam Dovrat, Noam Avivi and Isaiah Taylor. Guy Goodes At the end – in a TV interview as well as at the press conference – he praised the work “around the clock” of physiotherapist Avichai Reuven so that in the end, all the actors did play. “We had a tough week, the training was almost no training,” the coach said. “So what won us the game was the mental preparation and the attitude we came up with.”
Goodes concluded: “I’m glad we have an excellent percentage in knockout games. It has nothing to do with talent, what matters is who brings himself mentally better, on an individual and team level. We did it better this time than Jerusalem and we won this victory.”
Rishon Lezion later revealed that they will meet Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final – and this will be the third final between the two in the last three seasons – after in the previous two years they faced each other in the Final Four. This will be Maccabi Rishon Lezion’s fourth appearance in the cup final, losing in the previous three.