The fifth and final chapter comparing the three biggest players in Israeli basketball: after the coaches, the center coordinators, the Israeli staff, the time has come to compare the foreign players’ staffs of the triangle that is supposed to lead Israeli basketball this season.
Maccabi Tel AvivThe foreign team:
No matter how you spin it, Maccabi’s foreign squad is getting weaker for next season. Four of the leading foreigners in the Euroleague left and players of lesser quality arrived, each of whom is a kind of bet.
Maccabi left two of the best guards in the Euroleague – Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin, one of the leading centers in the factory Josh Niebo and one of the outstanding forwards Bonzie Colson.
Rokas Iukovaitis the leading center back – a young man who has not led a team to date. Jordan Lloyd will be the leading scorer after missing half of Monaco’s games last season. Two more bets are Leviathan Randolph and Jaylen Hurd who have not yet played in the EuroLeague. Center Weinen Gabriel, who did not play in Europe, is also a bet.
The biggest bet is the guard Darrell Macon who comes after a long absence due to injury and will not be able to start the season. The safest foreigner is Hasiel Rivero who continues from last season.
A significant question for the rest of the season: will an eighth foreigner be added in the forward positions?
Hasiel Rivero. The only foreigner left in the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad, photo: Danny Maron
Hapoel JerusalemForeign staff:
Hapoel Jerusalem’s foreign squad was built according to the economic model in a solid way with team-oriented players and no flashy names. One of the advantages is two foreigners who continue from last season – Speedy Smith and Chris Johnson. Jeremy Morgan replaces Lewai Randolph, Jared Harper last season in the Euroleague (Valencia) will be the second guard next to Smith.
A big upgrade will be under the basket with Austin Wiley (player of the season in Turkey last season) and Justin Smith who impressed in Hapoel Holon. A balanced squad, it still lacks a little luster and above all another leading scorer. It should be remembered that one of the prominent foreigners Kadin Carrington became an Israeli and that Jerusalem has the fewest foreigners among the three groups – 6.
Austin Wiley, photo: from X
Hapoel Tel AvivForeign staff:
With the addition of Bruno Caboclo, Hapoel Tel Aviv presents a foreign squad of a Euroleague team. On paper, the team in red presents foreigners of the highest quality that has been here outside of Maccabi Tel Aviv. Maccabi didn’t always have foreign staff at this level either.
The numbers show. Hapoel has three foreigners who earn in 7 figures, a player with a long and significant career in the NBA, players who played in the Euroleague, another player with an NBA record and two more players with a fine European record.
Patrick Beverley can be great for the Eurocup and the league. Two of the players (Motley and Caboclo) were strongly in Maccabi’s sights and Ish Wainwright could easily fit into Maccabi, maybe even in the top five.
Alongside this, there are quite a few questions: how Motley will make the transition from the NBA, how will all the stars get along, how will coach Stephanos Dedas manage all this ego and most importantly: what will the professional chemistry be like between them.
Bottom line: On paper, Hapoel Tel Aviv has the most impressive foreign team. The team invested heavily and went for the best and often amazed the basketball world this summer. Maccabi Tel Aviv will have a hard time filling the gap and in my estimation will need another foreigner. Jerusalem will try to prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Hapoel will try to do the opposite – that the whole is not less than the sum of its parts.
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to join Patrick Beverley, photo: Hapoel Tel Aviv. We will fix it! If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
