After beating FC Barcelona in Round 1, the Israeli side moved to 2-0 in Round 2
Hapoel overcame first-half struggles at Efes to finish week unbeaten
Articolo
3 Minuto di lettura
Regular Season
Round 2 of 38
Regular Season
Anadolu Efes IstanbulEFS
8187
Hapoel IBI Tel AvivHTA
Overview
l
w
w
w
Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv flipped the script in the second half and powered its way to a hard-fought 81-87 road win over Anadolu Efes Istanbul, finishing its first EuroLeague week with a perfect 2-0 record.
After a sluggish first half, where Efes dominated on the glass and controlled the pace, Hapoel tightened up its defense and played with aggressive energy on both ends of the court. The visitors allowed just 13 points in the third quarter and maintained that momentum through the fourth, ultimately securing the victory.
“We saw two very different halves,” Hapoel head coach Dimitris Itoudis reflected. “In the first half, we played like prima donnas. Defensively, we weren’t on the court; offensively, our attitude was wrong and our spacing was poorly organized – Efes had us figured out. We were just reacting and falling behind.”
“But everything changed in the third and fourth quarters. We set the tone with a different mindset on defense and committed ourselves to playing aggressive basketball on both ends. That made all the difference.”
Rebounding was a major factor in the shift. Efes dominated the boards early with a 21-12 advantage in the first half, including 9 offensive rebounds that resulted in a 13-4 edge in second-chance points. However, Hapoel fought back to finish the game nearly even on the glass – 31-32 overall – with both teams grabbing 12 offensive rebounds and scoring 15 second-chance points.
“Defense is my thing, and in the first half I wasn’t locked in,” admitted Hapoel’s Ish Wainright, who finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds. “I needed to be focused in every aspect of the game. The second half was different – we came out and punched back.”
Dan Oturu, who posted 12 points and 9 rebounds against his former team, praised the team’s resilience after the break.
“In the second half, we were more aggressive in everything – offense and defense. In the first half, we let them take us out of our sets and played timidly. But after halftime, we stepped up, attacked more on defense, and played with confidence.”
With that second-half surge, Hapoel now boasts a 2-0 start to its EuroLeague campaign after surviving a true tale of two halves.