Maccabi Game

Whats going on! This past week, we played Maccabi Tel Aviv, the best team in the Israeli basketball league and first in the standing. One of our key players is still out due to injury, so the team signed another player; Brian Markson to fill in that void while our teammate recovers. He is a very good slasher with great leaping ability and brings a lot of energy to the floor when he plays. It was a great atmosphere at the game and both team got out to a very good start in the game. Maccabi, who team is full of tall and athletic players, were getting out in transition and getting a lot of fast break baskets in the first half. Our team responded well, we made some runs of our own and you could really see the team growing in confidence as the game went along. With some of our main guys sitting on the bench due to foul trouble at half time, we were only down 45-50.

The start of the second half, we came out very aggressive on both ends of the floor and took a small lead. The 3rd quarter proved to be a very pivotal period for our team because we were able to get to the foul line early and often. This allowed us to put the ball inside and penetrate to the basket. At the end of the third period, we were ahead 76-75.The fourth quarter was very intense and emotional as our team could sense a big win coming on our home court. Lead changes were going back and forth but in the last 3 minutes of the game, Maccabi executed much better than we did. In a span of 40 seconds, we went from up 2 to down 4 giving up two three pointers on back to back possessions and that proved to be the difference in the game. We out played them for 35 minutes, but in the end, they were able to separate emotions from their play execution and found a way to win. This is a part of the game that our team lacks but we are getting better at. It was a hard fought game and we put up a great effort but we went down 93-96. I finished the game with 20pts, 4 rebs. & 2 ast.

Tomorrow we play Jerusalem, a similar team to Maccabi, who is 2nd in the league standings. It will be a good test for us on the road to see if we can maintain the same intensity from last game away from home. I’m sure we can and will; our full roster will be in tack so I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Last night I watch the Cards play against Arizona in the Sweet 16 and it was a thing of beauty. The way they shared the ball and got everyone involved was fun to watch. Also, to watch Andre McGee harassing guards full court the entire game and having that defensive energy trickle its way down to his other teammates is enjoyable to watch. Three games left to the crown….GO CARDS! Peace…

Son Of The City