After the Strike: What Happened Between Artzi and a Fan

The incident at the end and Holon’s disappointment after the loss to Maccabi: “We were not good enough” 5SPORT Published: 11.06.26, 09:18

“Not close enough” (Alon Sheiber) | Photo: 5SPORT

Hapoel Holon got into trouble last night (Wednesday) in the playoff semifinal after losing at home 84:74 to Maccabi Tel Aviv and falling behind 2:0 in the series. The Purple struggled to cope with the Yellows’ superiority through most of the game, and now they face a game that could be their last of the season. The club did not hide its disappointment with the performance and the result, saying, “It’s disappointing to lose, but we were not good enough. We hope to come to the next game for real, play better, and know how to make the right adjustments.”

Holon opened the game poorly and fell behind by double digits within a few minutes. Maccabi Tel Aviv enjoyed another good shooting night and finished the first quarter with a 23:9 lead, setting the pace. In the second quarter, Holon managed to get into the game better and even cut the gap, but Maccabi continued to control the game and did not allow the home team to truly threaten its lead. Holon had 32 rebounds compared with Maccabi’s 46, including 21 offensive rebounds compared with just nine by the Purple, an advantage that led to many points for the Yellows on the other end. Although the final score was only a 10-point margin, Maccabi held a larger lead for most of the game.

Holon summed up the loss, saying, “Each time we managed to get closer, but it was never really close enough. At the same time, we did manage to come back several times and not finish the game badly or by a big margin. In the end, we defended relatively well, but we could not make the necessary stops.”

Adama Sanogo was the main, and perhaps only, bright spot for Holon yesterday, as the center finished with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Aside from him, no Purple player scored in double figures. J’Von McCormick and Darin Green Jr., who were very significant in the first game, had only 9 points each this time. Keyontae Taylor also struggled to make an impact and finished with just seven points, after scoring 19 in the previous game.

At the end of the game, an incident was recorded when team captain Netanel Artzi exchanged words with one of the club’s fans who was sitting in the stands relatively close to the court as the players were heading to the locker room. The two sides traded remarks, and some of the comments directed at Artzi also referred to the Israeli players’ strike that took place about a month ago, a move that at the time drew heavy criticism from the team’s fans toward the players, and it continues to have an impact today. Additional fans in the stands prevented the supporter from escalating the incident or moving closer to the court. At the same time, Holon players, including Eyal Sultan and Adama Sanogo, worked to calm things down and prevented Artzi from moving toward the stands, with Sanogo escorting him toward the locker room.

Game 3 in the series will be held tomorrow at Menora Mivtachim Arena, and a Maccabi Tel Aviv win will clinch a berth in the playoff final and complete a sweep of Holon. Israeli Basketball Premier League