Pair of delectable semifinals set to tip off

The Israel Winner League semifinals are ready to rock and roll as the top four teams in the regular season all moved on to the Final Four.

First-place Maccabi Tel Aviv begins its best-of-3 semifinal tilt against Hapoel Holon with Game 1 slated for Tuesday night at Yad Eliyahu while second-place Hapoel Jerusalem will host Hapoel Tel Aviv for their opening contest on Wednesday evening in the capital.

Both Maccabi and Jerusalem entered their quarterfinal series against Hapoel Beersheba and Bnei Herzliya, respectively,  a bit hungover from being ousted in European play. The yellow-and-blue had fallen to Monaco in a rough-and-tumble five-game series, while the Reds saw their continental campaign come to an end when they lost to Bonn in the Basketball Champions League Final following an emotional semifinal victory over Tenerife.

While Oded Katash’s squad was able to get by the Southern Reds in a 3-0 sweep, it was nonetheless a difficult series and one that saw a number of players including regulars Wade Baldwin and Josh Nebo on the shelf with injuries.

Aleksandar Dzikic’s Jerusalem team needed an extra game to send off Herzliya 3-1 and it was only in the last game of the series when the bench boss’s charges were really able to make a dent and look somewhat like the Jerusalem of old.

The other two teams who will feature in the semifinals, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Holon, wrapped up their respective series last week over Ness Ziona and Hapoel Galil Elyon in 3-0 sweeps. This has allowed each squad a chance to rest up and get ready for what will be two incredible clashes.

Holon, as the defending champion, can’t be counted out with the likes of veterans Joe Ragland and Chris Johnson anchoring the squad.

Ragland raises his game as he always does when the games matter most and starred for Guy Goodes in the series with Hapoel Galil Elyon, while Johnson, who has not had his best season, knows what to do when it comes to money time.

In fact, the Purples are playing their best basketball of the season right now and have as much depth as they have had all year long with Shawn Dawson slicing and dicing to the hoop, Fred Bourdillion shooting lights out along with CJ Harris plus the late-season acquisition of Netanel Artzi.

“We are peaking right now and we want to continue,” Goodes said. “One thing is for certain that we will give our all on both ends of the floor as we have a chance to do something special this season.”

Maccabi on the other hand, enters the series with a number of question marks. Wade Baldwin has been arguably the club’s best player and has been out for a couple of weeks and while Katash has said that he will play, it’s still unclear as to how effective he will be in this series. Without Baldwin, Katash had relied on Darrun Hilliard who had been inconsistent after coming off an early-season injury himself.

Nebo looks to be out for the season with a groin issue, but the word is still mum on his possible participation as Alex Poythress, who also came off of a hand injury that kept him out almost half of the season, has been able to fill in admirably.

Yet another concern for the yellow-and-blue is Jarell Martin, who did not play in the last game of the Beersheba series due to a foot issue. It’s also not clear if the forward will be available or not and that may thrust Suleiman Braimoh into action after not having played in a couple of months.

However, with all of the uncertainty surrounding Maccabi, it still has plenty of quality and depth in Lorenzo Brown, Bonzie Colson, Roman Sorkin and John DiBartolomeo, who will all need to step up.

Over in the second semifinal series that will start the following day, it looks as if Hapoel Tel Aviv is out of its funk after having been eliminated from EuroCup play back in late April.

It took the TA Reds a bit of time to get back into the swing of things but it’s clear that they are out to show the league that they are a threat to take home the title and won’t be an easy opponent for Hapoel Jerusalem.

Taking the bull by the horns

Tomer Ginat took the bull by the horns and had a spectacular series against Ness Ziona, Xavier Munford, Jordan McRae and J’Covan Brown all played well but it was Chinanu Onuaku who looked like “The Chief” of old, the one that won the league MVP award last season.

Danny Franco’s team did, however, have some time off that may play a factor in getting the players back into rhythm, but the bench boss will do what he needs to in order to help his team climb to the top.

“Sometimes it’s tough to take a break after a good run of games and I won’t rule out doing anything,” Franco explained.

For Jerusalem, head coach Dzikic described the Reds’ play since the BCL Final perfectly – too many ups and downs – and that is exactly how the Reds looked in their series win over Bnei Herzliya.

They were consistently inconsistent in all four games and while the close-out game saw them win 86-61, they also blew two 20-point leads before finally wearing out a very short Herzliya squad.

Had it not been for Khadeen Carrington, who scored 26 points in just 21 minutes, the series perhaps may have headed back to Jerusalem for a decisive Game 5.

Just last week, Israel National Team coach Ariel Beit Halachmi indicated that he had identified Carrington as a player that he would like to naturalize and have play for the squad this summer in the Olympic pre-qualifying tournament.

The blue-and-white bench boss, who was in attendance for the game, was able to see the guard in action and nodded his head in approval as the 27-year-old cut to the hoop, went from long distance and did everything that the team had lacked, especially in crunch time with 16 fourth-quarter points to help pick up the win.

“It was my mindset to close things out,” Carrington said. “Coach trusted me, my teammates trusted me and in those crucial situations they like to put the ball in my hands and I do what I know how to do best, try to score, try to get a bucket. If I can’t get a bucket then I try to find the open guy, but I had it going and my teammates and coach did a good job trying to get me the ball.”

Dzikic also praised Carrington for his self-sacrifice for the good of the team and pointed to him as someone who could be one of the most important players down the stretch of this season.

“Khadeen started all of his life and it took me all of about 60 seconds to convince him that for us it’s better if you come from the bench. He said ‘whatever you need.’ For me that’s the highest level of sacrifice and coachability that you can ask for. It’s crucial that he comes from the bench and gives us instant offense. He’s a killer and that’s why we call him ‘Killer.’”

Just as the ball is about to be tossed up for tip-off, one thing is clear – both these semifinal series should display the Israeli league’s best and will leave hoops fans thirsty for more.