The newcomer contributed 16 points in 25 minutes in his first EuroCup appearance.
Hapoel’s Dez Wells made an impact in his debut



Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv’s new signing Dez Wells had a fine debut with the club. He came into the game off the bench early and produced 16 points, 3 assists and 2 steals for a PIR of 20 in 25 minutes as his team defeated Veolia Towers Hamburg 118-101 at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade.
Listen to what head coach Danny Franco said of Wells and his performance comes across as even more impressive: “I am happy that we brought Dez in. He just landed last night. He helped us out a lot.”
Indeed, Wells was still getting to know the names of some of the players he was sharing the court with, but with Hapoel missing several key players, he stepped up. Braian Angola, J’Covan Brown, Tomer Ginat and Jaylen Hoard – four of the team’s top five scorers – missed the game due to injuries, which meant whatever help Wells could provide would be appreciated. And Wells proved to be up to the task.
He scored 4 points in 4:19 off the bench in the first quarter as Hapoel exploded for 35 points. Wells contributed 2 free throws and 2 assists in the second quarter as his team went for 30 more points to set a club record for points in a half with 65.
Wells was on the bench for much of Hamburg's comeback in the third quarter, in which the German side came from 13 down at halftime to get within 84-83. He then made his first 2 three-pointers for Hapoel in the fourth quarter as the team regained control of the game for good.
“I’m not sure we would have won this game without him,” Coach Franco said in the press conference.
The 31-year-old swingman, who played in Italy and Greece earlier in his career, but spent the past four seasons in China, was one of many stars for Hapoel on the night. Guards Bar Timor and Gil Beni and center Idan Zalmanson all set career highs in scoring with 21, 14 and 14 points, respectively, and in PIR with 25, 20 and 25, respectively.
“Like you expect from a team, the guys are filling in. There is no vacuum. The guys like to play together. They are making each other better. They are playing for each other,” Franco said.
And they were glad to have Wells as part of it on Wednesday.