ISR - Bnei HaSharon add more turmoil to Maccabi season

TEL AVIV (Super Basketball League) - Bnei HaSharon handed out a severe beating to Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv on Sunday, hammering them 87-68.

It marked their first Israeli Super Basketball League defeat in 2007-08.

In an average season, Maccabi do not lose more than two to three games in the domestic competition.

Even less, though, do they suffer defeats by such heavy margins.

Safsal.co.il, the encyclopedia website for Israeli basketball fanatics, got into the details after that setback.

Other than a 25-point loss in the 2003-04 campaign to Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi hadn't lost by such a big margin for nearly a decade.

In 1997-98, Maccabi Ra'anana, who would years later reunite with Bnei Herzelia to form no other than Bnei HaSharon, destroyed true kings of Israeli basketball, 95-73.

Since that mauling, Maccabi lost several games by 14 or 15 points, but other than the Tel Aviv derby from four years ago, there was nothing like that.

The 68 points Maccabi scored against Bnei HaSharon is another rarity.

In 2000-01, Maccabi beat Bnei Hertzelia 68-66, and if you want to find the previous time the Blue-and-Yellow didn't reach 70 points, you'd have to go back 14 years to the 1993/94 season when Galil beat them 72-68.

They scored even less than that in a 65-64 win against Hapoel Tel Aviv.

For three quarters on Sunday against Bnei HaSharon, it had been a close game.

Oded Kattash, Maccabi's first-year coach, didn't panic after the game, but he certainly wasn't happy.

"I'm not very concerned with the margin," he said. "It's more the way that we played I'm worried about."

Kattash's men earlier this season suffered heavy road setbacks in the Euroleague against Lietuvos Rytas and Unicaja Malga.

"Bnei knew to punch us exactly where it hurts us the most," Kattash said.

"It felt like we don't know what to do."

Enough analysis on Maccabi. Now for Bnei, a club that is getting used to raising eyebrows.

Last year they eliminated Maccabi in the semi-finals of the National Cup to shock an entire nation.

For some reason, in fact, Bnei, especially when they are at home, seem to always give Maccabi fits.

On this occasion, their guards wreaked havoc.

Meir Tapiro, a national team star at the EuroBasket this summer who almost beat Maccabi to the league title with Hapoel Jerusalem last season, scored 23 points, dished five assists and had the time of his life.

But he wasn't alone.

"When I came to Israel, everybody told me that if you win second place, it's like you won first because it's impossible to beat Maccabi," said Cookie Belcher, who added 20 points and showed great leadership.

"We knew we could beat them," he said. "Maybe we were the only ones to believe in it."

Bnei, who also won at home against Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Holon, two other final four contenders, look determined to shake up the basketball establishment this season.

So far, Maccabi have a 4-2 record in the Euroleague and a 5-1 mark in the Israeli league, but anyone who follows Maccabi knows it takes more than decent records to keep that club's fans happy.

All of the Maccabi wins in the Euroleague so far have been close games that could have gone the other way.

On Thursday night at Armani Jeans Milano in Italy, it was a tip-in by Terence Morris with just two seconds on the clock that gave Maccabi a one-point win against one of the weakest teams in the group.

In domestic action, Maccabi edged Nahariya as well, and now with the big loss at Bnei, the dirty laundry is coming out.

The champions made a big change in the summer, spending a lot of money to build a deep roster of no less than 13 players.

Two of the main signings - big man Marcus Fizer and point guard Vonteego Cummings - have so far not delivered the good and that has brought a lot of criticism from the press and fans.

In the loss to Bnei, Cummings played 15 minutes and finished with no points, three missed shots and three turnovers on three consecutive possessions while also committing five fouls.

One foul was deemed flagrant, which was followed right away by a technical, in the third quarter.

That is not a good return on your investment because the indiscipline helped Bnei make their first run and take control of the game.

Cummings' three consecutive turnovers came right after that, and coach Kattash had to bench him.

Cummings, one of the best and most consistent guards in the Euroleague in past years, came back in the fourth quarter but right away fouled out and finished with one of his worst nights since coming to Europe.

Will Bynum, who re-signed for two years in the summer with Maccabi, is another foreigner who hasn't been able to find his spot so far, and all three will be under scrutiny in the weeks to come.

Maccabi will have to wait until Thursday night's battle with Aris Thessalonica in the Euroleague to get the Bnei loss out of their system.

Coach Kattash, well, he is under fire by one of the owners - Ra'anan Katz. And this is causing big unrest in the management of the club.

Another loss, this time at home, and the yacht start to encounter some very rough seas.

Yarone Arbel
FIBA