After the loss in the derby, Hapoel Tel Aviv will host Bnei Herzliya tonight (Wednesday) at 19:20 – for a game with many meanings for future underground struggles, which will give the winner a lot of air.
Yannis Castritis will miss JP Tokoto tonight, who is suffering from a small leg crisis after the loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv, and will be out for four to six weeks. Luckily for Hapoel Tel Aviv, it also has five foreigners on the roster, so in place of Tokoto, John Dibler was registered as the fourth foreigner, after not playing in the league for more than a month.
Sharon Drucker’s foreign quartet will not be the strongest he can put up either: their new protégé, Jared Cunningham, has already landed in Israel – but has not registered, so Herzliya will once again play two tall foreigners there: Trell Parks and Elijah Thomas.
For both teams, this is a critical game, as they both have three wins, although Hapoel Tel Aviv has lost 7 times compared to 9 losses for Herzliya. The two have already met twice this season in the Balkan league, and Hapoel has won twice.
The key to this game will probably be the red attack: Hapoel Tel Aviv has scored over 90 points in its last two victories and has stopped at less than 70 in its last two losses, while outside shooting is also a critical factor: 11.5 threes in these wins compared to 6 in losses.
