The Premier League's top four teams will vie for the championship title today as the final four stage is set to take place in front of a packed Nokia Auditorium in Tel Aviv.
Hapoel Holon, whose good form earned it top place in the league at the end of the regular season, usually reserved for Maccabi Tel Aviv, will take on tenacious northerners Ironi Nahariya in the first game set to start at 6 P.M. At 8:50 P.M. Maccabi Tel Aviv, whose performance this season has varied violently between good and bad spells, will face the team that has beaten it more times than any other this season, Bnei Hasharon. Unlike other seasons, no team has stood out as the favorites, with the perennial champions Maccabi Tel Aviv going on the longest losing streak in the team's history.
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Hapoel Holon coach Miki Dorsman is bracing himself for a hard-fought battle. "The genial basketball will vanish after a few minutes," Dorsman said. "In money time tactics and experience are crucial. The team that makes the least number of mistakes will win."
Meanwhile, Nahariya coach Roni Bosani said his team was the underdog against Holon. "The fact that we made it here is a great achievement for the team, certainly given the condition it was in a mere two months ago," he said. "We made it among the big four and have beaten each of the three teams here. We are confident and hope to keep up the momentum."
Last year's champions Maccabi are set to return to Tel Aviv after taking a team break at Kibbutz Ein Gedi, on the shores of the Dead Sea.
The team is under strict orders not to talk to the media ahead of the final four, due to its abysmal performance in recent months, including the longest losing streak in the team's history. Despite the restrictions, one player told Haaretz on condition of anonymity that he believed the trip had little effect on the players. "Ein Gedi was nice but didn't do much," he said. "I did, however, notice that the water level there is dropping," the player astutely observed.
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