Maccabi Rishon Lezion has occasionally accustomed us to “surprises” during the season: three years ago it was Keith Langford who was signed while on the move, and now the Oranges from the Wine City have laid their hands on another player on a European scale for everything – Jeremy Fargo, who returns For a fifth term in Israel, in a fourth group.
The need for Fargo, or even another quality guard, arose about a month ago. In Rishon Lezion, they realized that something was not working in the back line, and as evidenced by the results of the team (balance 7: 5 in the league), which recently showed fallen games, for example in home losses to Hapoel Beer Sheva or Nahariya.
Fargo, in fact, did not belong to any team frame (except for the TBT league in which he played in September), and Goodes has embarked on a persuasion campaign in recent weeks. Throughout this period the two talked, when at first, it should be noted, the former were relatively skeptical about this possibility.
Fargo, almost as usual, was not really in a hurry to make a decision about the target this season. Beyond Rishon Lezion, he also had offers from Turkish Drushpaka and Krishaka, with Hapoel Tel Aviv also entering the picture at some point, but he himself was waiting to get a contract in the NBA. He believed Memphis or Golden State (who in the uniform of their daughter team played last season) would make an offer – which unfortunately did not come.
The 34-year-old guard preferred to return to Europe over the Development League, and on his desk, as mentioned, a number of proposals were placed. In the end, it was the connection between Fargo and Goodes that ultimately brought the player to Rishon Lezion. The two have known each other since Goodes’ time as an assistant at Maccabi Tel Aviv, when in Fargo’s debut season the team managed to reach the final four of the Euroleague Final Four.
In the 2014/15 season, when Goodes was promoted to the position of head coach in place of David Blatt, he put all the eggs in Fargo’s basket – who was signed at the time as Maccabi’s leading player – with a huge contract of about $ 2 million, but after the Yellows lost the championship after the famous loss In the series against Eilat, Fargo did not continue for another season.
The desire to play for Goodes, along with Rishon Lezion’s promotion to the cup final, closed the matter definitively. Starting this weekend, after the impressive victory over Hapoel Jerusalem in the semifinals, negotiations between the parties gained momentum, when the possibility of taking a title – and more against Maccabi Tel Aviv – was very appealing to Fargo.
Although the veteran coordinator is not yet fit to play, he has kept fit lately and should get into things soon. The first one still remembers how the same Fargo, who also came to Hapoel Jerusalem very late last season, almost defeated them with his own hands in the Final Four semi-final with 32 points – and he might as well have done so if not for Adam Ariel’s insane three-pointer.
Economically, this is a very expensive deal for Rishon Lezion, which is known to be run on a lower budget this season compared to recent years. In favor of bringing Fargo in, some of the board members invested out of their own pockets and in addition raised money from sponsors to make it happen.
Now on Sunday they will try to land Fargo in Israel as soon as possible, hoping that the Exceptions Committee will indeed approve his landing. He is expected to be the fifth foreigner on the roster and give Rishon Lezion a dimension she did not have. In 2015, he failed to take a championship with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Goodes, now he will try to make amends, specifically in Rishon Lezion.
