Hapoel Tel Aviv Shows Fight, but a 2-0 Finals Comeback Still Looks Unlikely

After Game 2 of the playoff final, the article argues that every basketball team has three core players who define its identity. For Maccabi Tel Aviv, those pillars are Roman Sorkin, Iffe Lundberg and Oshae Brissett. For Hapoel Tel Aviv during its EuroLeague season, they were Elijah Bryant, Antonio Blakeney and Dan Oturu, which is why Hapoel deserves credit for reinventing itself, playing well without them, and getting nearly everything possible from its current roster despite trailing 2-0 in the series.

Unlike the first game, which Maccabi controlled from start to finish, Hapoel made adjustments. It used Aniw Wainwright on Sorkin, switched to more zone defense, gave Gai Palatin more minutes, and generally focused more on stopping Maccabi. On offense, it moved the ball faster, ran more early in the game, and opened with a 0-12 lead. But once coach Oded Katash inserted Jimmy Clark and Brissett, the game changed. Maccabi’s defense improved dramatically, helped by Brissett’s toughness, and the team also exploited Hapoel’s shortage of big men by playing bigger lineups, including Brissett at the 2 and extended stretches with Sorkin and Zach Hankins together.

That size helped Maccabi dominate the offensive glass and make it very hard for Hapoel to attack the paint, even if it also created room for Yam Madar to hit multiple threes from the corners. The piece says Hapoel’s lack of a natural power forward has become a major issue, and that the club paid for its earlier success, when Wainwright’s run at the 4 convinced the staff it did not need to sign a real one. By the time the team realized otherwise, the top EuroLeague forwards were already taken. Hapoel is said to be dreaming of Trey Lyles, but the writer argues it should first add one or two cheaper options to avoid being left with nothing.

Madar was again Hapoel’s standout, and arguably kept it alive. The article stresses that this is especially impressive because he played very little in the EuroLeague and could have mentally cracked. Instead, after the foreign stars left, he took over not only scoring but leadership too. The piece says his salary offers may not be unrealistic, but questions whether he will get enough EuroLeague minutes in future seasons to justify them, which depends on his next coach.

As for the series, the writer says a comeback from 2-0 with this roster seems hard to believe. Still, Game 2 changed the feel of the final, turning it from a one-sided matchup into a real contest between two strong and entertaining teams.