Growing pains: Hapoel Tel Aviv’s ambitions hit early roadblocks, raising tough questions

Rome won’t be built in a day at Hapoel Tel Aviv as Stefanos Dedas’s all-star squad fell to Maccabi Ramat Gan 109-102 in overtime during Winner Cup quarterfinal action, followed by a 78-75 EuroCup loss to Joventut Badalona.

The stage was set for the Reds to waltz through the Israeli league Winner Cup preseason tournament and finally win a title – something they haven’t done since the 1993 Israel State Cup. But it wasn’t meant to be, as Hapoel crashed hard. The contest extended deep into the fourth quarter and then into a one-sided overtime period that saw the court tilted in one direction and one direction only.

The same was true against Joventut in Barcelona, where the Spaniards jumped out to a big lead that forced the Reds to claw back into a game they ultimately lost.

This is not how the Reds wanted to see both their domestic and continental seasons begin.

It’s true that Hapoel’s “Big 3” – Patrick Beverley, Ish Wainwright, and Johnathan Motley – were not dressed for the game, as domestic clashes only allow for five imports, and Hapoel has eight. It’s also true that Israeli players Tomer Ginat is out injured and Bar Timor just welcomed a baby daughter (Mazal Tov!). But still, if Hapoel Tel Aviv has designs on putting together an unforgettable season, this game will be one to forget – very, very quickly.

Hapoel’s starting five will probably never be on the court to begin a game again. However, the talent on this team is oozing from all directions, and the coach will need to mold it into a unit – a well-oiled machine that can achieve their goals: winning the EuroCup to earn a place in the EuroLeague, and winning the Israeli league championship for the first time since the summer of ’69.

Ramat Gan entered the game with a short roster, missing two of their best foreigners, Roberto Gallinat and Kendale McCullum, which should have given Hapoel an even bigger advantage. But with the likes of Marcus Foster, Joe Ragland, Bruno Caboclo, Braian Angola, and Ben Bentil on the court, Hapoel should have cruised to victory.

And cruise it did, for the majority of the game, but it never put the pedal to the metal to pull away. Ramat Gan hung around, trailing by roughly 10 points throughout the first half-hour of the game.

With both sides playing an eight-man rotation, Bentil was ejected with 6:50 left in the fourth quarter, and from that point on, it was all downhill for the Reds. One mistake after another saw the game slip away from Dedas’s squad, allowing Roi Huber’s three-point heroics with just a second left to send the contest into overtime, tied at 88-88.

Amin Stevens, Adam Ariel, and Yahel Melamed helped pull Shmulik Brenner’s team into a tie, while Ariel dropped a dozen points in the extra session to send Hapoel packing.

Off to Barcelona for their opening EuroCup game against Joventut Badalona, the Reds were left hanging their heads in shock and disappointment. That game also ended the same way.

Dedas & Co. couldn’t believe their eyes, and the disheveled bench boss repeated in the postgame press conference that everyone made mistakes to lose the game.

One of those mistakes was Bentil’s technical, which saw him tossed from the game. Another was missed free throws. But perhaps the most glaring mistake was Guy Palatin’s failure to foul Huber before he drilled the game-tying triple.

Up by three points, Dedas was looking for the foul to put Huber on the line, which would have, for all intents and purposes, sewn up the win. But it was not to be. The Greek tactician mentioned Palatin’s faux pas numerous times, unable to understand why the former Kirat Ata guard didn’t follow instructions. While it’s true and Dedas is 100% correct, it’s unusual to hear a coach throw one of his players under the bus – not once, not twice, but repeatedly.

Palatin’s job was to follow his coach’s instructions, and he didn’t. This raises an even bigger question: if the new Israeli player isn’t listening to his coach, what will the veterans, who have years of NBA and European experience, do?

Oz Blayzer, one of Hapoel’s newcomers, was asked after the game how the team will gel with eight import players, multiple competitions, and a squad with only two holdovers from last season. He acknowledged that while it’s a totally new team and will take time to understand how to play together, each player must know their role.

There’s no question that this process will take time.

Should Dedas have used the Winner Cup game as a dress rehearsal for Tuesday’s EuroCup contest? Hindsight is 20/20, but after back-to-back losses, it seems that had the coach played his strongest lineup in the Winner Cup, confidence would have been built. Perhaps Hapoel would now have two wins instead of two losses.

Dedas is a good coach and understands the Israeli league and mentality. He has taken teams to the top without the biggest budgets and has worked with some of the best in the business.

But will he be able to take this team, one loaded to the hilt, where owner Ofer Yannay wants it to go? Yannay sees Hapoel as the favorite in every game – whether at home, on the road, in the EuroCup, or on the moon. He has invested massive resources to meet these expectations and will demand results.

One thing is clear: Hapoel is under construction, and many questions have started to be addressed after two games – one of which was played on the famed court in Barcelona, where the USA Dream Team won gold in 1992 at the Palau Municipal d’Esports de Badalona.

The Reds are undeniably talented. But can they come together as a team and reach the potential they have on paper, with one star after another? That’s the real question – and the most important job Dedas has.

It will also be the biggest test of his career.