Could the absences of key players derail Hapoel’s season?
Why Hapoel can win Game 3
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3 Mins read
With all due respect to the two semifinalists on the other side of the bracket, there is a feeling among many that the favorite to win the BKT EuroCup this season will be the team that wins on Wednesday night at La Fonteta. And more than anything else, what Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv needs to knock out Valencia Basket is a full, healthy roster.
Thus far, Hapoel has managed to match up with Valencia nicely despite being depleted. Hapoel led at halftime in Game 1 before faltering in the third quarter and never trailed in Game 2. In the eight quarters played thus far, Hapoel has won four, Valencia two and two finished in ties.
Coach Dimitris Itoudis's side has done all of that despite being without the injured Joe Ragland and with Bruno Caboclo missing Game 1 and playing less than 5 minutes in Game 2. And now there are questions surrounding several other players for Game 3, including star guard Yam Madar.
According to reports from Israel, Madar aggravated a knee injury in Game 2 and – instead of remaining with his teammates in Bulgaria over the weekend – flew home for treatment. It may not be clear if he can play in the series decider until shortly before the game. Meanwhile, key reserves Bar Timor and Marcus Bingham have missed practices due to illness.
None of these absences are a small matter. And combined they can be crippling. Madar has been the standout of the series thus far, averaging 20.5 points on outstanding shooting plus 6.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
To hope to survive with a chance to win if Madar is limited or cannot play, Hapoel will need Ragland and Timor. Ragland ranks third in the EuroCup this season in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.6) and Timor is one of the most experienced players on the roster. Without them, the only natural playmaker on the Hapoel roster is 20-year-old Noam Yaacov.
Johnathan Motley was a big reason Hapoel won Game 2 with 26 points and 8 rebounds and perhaps even more will be needed if he does not have Caboclo and Bingham behind him. It's important to remember that Caboclo was a EuroLeague starter just last season and an All-EuroCup selection two seasons ago.
The fact that injuries have hit Hapoel at specifically two of the spots where Valencia is deepest and strongest is even more of a concern.
On the court, Hapoel has done much of what it needed to win the series. It has slowed the pace and held Valencia to subpar three-point shooting (26.4%). But if it is without the key players mentioned above, Hapoel would need Herculean efforts from the likes of Motley, Marcus Foster, Tomer Ginat, Ish Wainright and Antonio Blakeney to prevail in Game 3.