AEK seemed to have disappeared into the fiery home of Hapoel Jerusalem for ten minutes and found themselves in a stalemate, but when the match came to the… cloth it showed that they can not only fight against the Israel team, but also to it able to eliminate them. Of course, the lead went to her opponent, but next (Big) Wednesday in Liosia there is no other option for the yellow-blacks than a draw.

However, he must play with the same passion he showed after 10 and certainly with a few players present on the pitch, but essentially… they were sorely missed.

• THE Brydon Lemar with 0/6 shooting, he fell victim to Hapoel’s suffocating defense against him and didn’t help at all. We’re talking about a player who is averaging 12.3p and is his team’s second goalscorer behind Akil Mitchell. His miss was one of the most important points of the game as Katzouris had to find alternative solutions to scoring.
• And the Pierre Oriolea, also with zero point production (0/4 shots) he may have beaten his well-known struggles in defense, getting rebounds and giving the well-known assists, but when AEK wanted his points (and during periods when he was face the basket face to face) he got nothing.

However, qualifying for the Final Four requires the attendance and contribution of everyone, which the underdogs themselves know better than anyone.

descent downhill

In AEKs Plus, certainly their reaction after the nightmarish first quarter when they suddenly passed out, Hapoel looked like the Celtics, suffocatingly pressed the ball, went by surprise and closed the score at +20 by taking the difference (with the start of repetition) and at +22.

The pitch seemed to be going dangerously downhill. Yes, AEK was determined to resist the Israelis, but the match quickly eluded them without appearing to be able to pick it up.

The hosts had 10/18 shots in the first period and 13/33 in the rest of the game. The difference is more apparent in the three-pointers, as the home team started 4/7 and finished 9/29 (ie, in the thirty minutes that followed their impressive first quarter, they were 5/22).

All of this proves AEK’s very poor defense, which came from their even worse attack. The ball didn’t move well, there were a lot of mistakes (six in total) and the United team seemed to block even at easy stages. All of this caused them to be constantly in a defensive imbalance at almost every stage. And the scoreboard began reading dangerously in favor of the Israelis.

AEK went seven minutes without a basket, the Jerusalem team looked very comfortable and Kanzouris had to go to the end of the bench, give time and, above all, demand pride, defense and reaction…

He shot it with the passion of the day

Yesterday was a special day for AEK as 55 years have passed since the 1968 triumph. So far maybe unknown for the players of the current team (mainly the foreigners), but always symbolic for the “yellow-black” organization.

If they didn’t know the semiotics of the day, surely AEK players had the passion that April 4th exudes every year. Of course they didn’t get to the end, but they drastically changed the game’s image and if they had been a bit more careful in the fourth third, they could have made the biggest surprise.

The “Yellows” shouldn’t be afraid of Hapoel. Not that it’s not a good team, anything but. It’s third in the Israeli league, has an excellent coach on the bench (Alexander Dzigich, who also has a Greek partner, Thodoris Giannakopoulos) and had 10 wins and 2 losses going into the playoffs.

However, AEK tried very hard. She didn’t give up, she didn’t give up, she responded with a very tough second period where she passed Hapoel and basically knocked them out of their bubble, forcing them to just ten points.

The third quarter was the best of the “Union” because it scored a hit from the perimeter (3/4tr) mainly from the dynamic Williams, while Mitchell began to sweep into the racquet.

The American starred in the fights under the basket with opponent Zac Hankins, Hapoel’s first scorer with an average of 15.5 points, but in yesterday’s game he was stuck on 2 points (1/7 shots). Yes, he’s got 9 rebounds, given 3 assists and made 3 cuts, but his treatment in the racquet by the big AEK players is almost excellent.

And Mitchell found a way to score in the suit at the same time (5/9). Had he also scored from distance (0/4), he would have made the perfect game.

AEK even got close at one point, but at that point they rushed to the lead, firing hastily only to see the Israelis escape again. Speedy Smith is a moral writer who looks like he’s from the same press as Kendrick Perry and Paris Lee. The short guard added five points, extended the lead to +5 and hit a big 3-pointer for +9, which didn’t change until the end of the game.

With 20 points (7/13 shooting) and 3 assists, he led his team with… double the usual score (10.5)

From nothing to 1:1

In the playoffs, as is well known, only the result counts, no matter how a match ends. Either with 22 points that Hapoel led or with 9 that won in the end, it’s the same. Nothing changes except the result of the series, which is 1-0.

But the second duel also starts from scratch, so what happened in the first match doesn’t really matter, except for analyzing the mistakes that the coaches have to make in the video that they will show the players for the next one prepare match.

AEK know they have to push themselves to equalize, in team performance especially in attack because with… 55 points it’s very difficult to win a game no matter how good you play in defense. Especially if you’re fighting for a place in the Final Four.