Nahariya was not supposed to go down easily in its Final Four semifinal game against Hapoel Holon yesterday. Indeed, the team coached by Roni Bosany played attractive basketball, its teammates coming up with 23 assists between them, as opposed to Holon's 13. Nonetheless, the tame game only achieved a respectable 100-89 loss.
But Hapoel Holon this season is playing like it's in a league of its own. Its budget is three times that of Nahariya and it has six foreign players who are stronger, taller and more athletic than their opponent's four.
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Holon's foreigners scored 22 points as a result of taking offensive rebounds in contrast to only two on the other side.
"The rebounds clenched it," Bosany said simply after the match. "We tried playing three of our big men and play zone defense, but nothing worked."
When you are in control of the rebounds, you don't need teamwork: A regular offense by Holon began with one of the guards missing a shot with one of its big men taking the rebound and scoring. It worked time and again - and Nahariya looked miserable.
Holon can do no wrong
When you have such a talented team, as Holon coach Miki Dorsman does, you can afford making big tactical errors, like not opening with Terry Simmons in the lineup. Without him in the opening minutes, Holon looked bad, allowing Nahariya to get a 12-point lead. "Miki told me ahead of the game that I wasn't in the lineup because he wanted a tall team, which was fine by me," Simmons said.
When Simmons and teammate Guni Izraeli took to the court, they turned the game around. Izraeli kept Nahariya star John Gilchrist guarded while his teammates stood idly by, and just before the end of the first half Holon took the lead. "Toward the end of the second quarter the momentum reversed itself. They improved their defense, and we didn't know what to do," Nahariya's Ido Kozikaro said.
In the third quarter Dorsman brought in the unstoppable P.J. Tucker and Eric Campbell to solidify his team's lead. "The game was decided in the second and third quarters. Holon was more determined and jumped for every ball," Bosany admitted.
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