FIELDWORK: Dashed hopes

Despite its coach’s insistence that he is not obsessed with winning titles, Hapoel Jerusalem’s loss on Sunday was a bitter disappointment.

By ALLON SINAI
Hapoel Jerusalem’s fans cheered the team from start to finish, despite the disheartening result. (photo credit: ODED KARNI)
Hapoel Jerusalem’s fans cheered the team from start to finish, despite the disheartening result.
(photo credit: ODED KARNI)
Lior Eliyahu couldn’t bear to watch.
The last place the Hapoel Jerusalem forward wanted to be after his team’s dejecting defeat to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the State Cup final on Sunday night was on the floor of the capital’s arena, watching the yellow-andblue collect another trophy.
Instead, he fled for the dressing room without the rest of his teammates before Maccabi captain Yogev Ohayon – flanked by injured captain Guy Pnini and final MVP Devin Smith – hoisted the cup, their team’s sixth straight.
Eliyahu and Jerusalem entered the final with high hopes. After a rocky period in which Hapoel lost five consecutive local league games, Jerusalem bounced back by winning its three BSL contests prior to the cup semis last week.
Hapoel then impressed in a 97- 65 thrashing of Hapoel Eilat in the last four, as Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Guy Goodes admitted that his team would be the underdog in the final – which was postponed by three days due to snowfall in the capital.
Even though it had lost just one game in 2015, Maccabi had struggled by its standards in the weeks leading up to the final. The yellow-and-blue had to erase a 21-point deficit to beat Maccabi Haifa in BSL action three weeks ago, before suffering a surprise home loss to a mediocre Alba Berlin in the Euroleague. Maccabi was also fortunate to progress to the cup final, coming back from a fivepoint deficit in the final minute against Haifa to force overtime before clinching a 90-87 win in the semis.
Hapoel and Maccabi were meeting for the fourth time this season, with Jerusalem winning two of the previous showdowns, including both of those played at its new state-of-the-art arena.
Jerusalem beat Maccabi after a tight game in the pre-season Winner Cup final in September, before trouncing the yellowand- blue by 30 points in the BSL in November.
Maccabi and Jerusalem were meeting in the cup final for the first time since 2008, when Hapoel erased an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to record a remarkable victory and lift the trophy for a second straight year.
Jerusalem hasn’t won a title since, failing to even reach the league or cup finals in the six seasons that followed.
However, everything seemed to be in place for a return to the winner’s circle on Sunday – only for Jerusalem to end the night in bitter disappointment.
“We lost concentration in the third quarter, and we need to take a good look at ourselves,” said Jerusalem coach Danny Franco. “We didn’t play well, and didn’t want to look like this.
Our goal was to reach the final after so many years of failing to do so, and I have no complaints towards the players; however, you need to know how to play these big games. We want to win as soon as possible, but we are undergoing a long-term process which goes beyond a single game.”
Hosting Maccabi at its home arena in the State Cup final was a dream come true for Jerusalem.
While the team has long been regarded as Maccabi’s main rival for local supremacy, it hadn’t come close to challenging the yellow-and-blue over recent years. Coaches and players had come and gone, but Hapoel somehow always found a way to disappoint.
Malha Arena remained one of the most formidable homecourts in Israeli basketball, but when it mattered most Jerusalem kept coming up short. Optimism abounded ahead of the start of the 2014-2015 campaign, with Hapoel moving into its arena and selling a record number of over 5,000 season tickets. The club retained the services of Eliyahu, Yotam Halperin, Bracey Wright and Derwin Kitchen, while bringing in Joseph Jones, Tony Gaffney and last season’s BSL MVP Donta Smith.
“All I can ask the players is to give their all. I can’t control if they win or lose but they have to fight for it and I believe we are going to have the right team,” owner Ori Allon told The Jerusalem Post ahead of the start of the season. “We are going to have the talent and the right coach and of course, the amazing fans in the new arena. I think they will have everything they need in order to be successful.”
Allon went on to stress that the club is focused on “building something for the very long term,” and isn’t obsessing about winning titles.
There is little doubt, though, that he was desperate to see the fruits of his investment on Sunday. Like Eliyahu, Allon was quick to leave the arena following the defeat.
After ending last season with a defeat in the BSL semifinals following exits in the cup and Eurocup quarterfinals, coach Brad Greenberg was sent packing and half the roster was changed.
The team’s entrance to the new arena was highlighted as a pivotal moment in Allon’s longterm plan for the club, and he had to make sure that he had an attractive product to offer its long-suffering supporters.
The prospect of a new arena and a rejuvenated team led by promising young coach Franco was more than enough to get the fan base excited, but so far this season Hapoel has put its supporters through the same torment they have become accustomed to in recent years.
Hapoel’s roller-coaster season has seen lows such as a Eurocup regular season exit with a 2-8 record, or a shock BSL defeat to Ironi Nahariya after squandering a lead of 24 points.
There was, of course, also the unforgettable moment when Smith treated the club’s fans to an obscene gesture with his middle finger, as he walked off the floor to their boos following three free-throw misses in the closing seconds that resulted in a defeat to Maccabi Haifa.
The loss to Nahariya was followed by a Facebook outburst from Allon. “It doesn’t matter what your name is, if I don’t see 100 percent commitment from you, I’ll send you packing.
Now shut up and show some heart,” he wrote a day after the humbling defeat.
Smith had another disappointing showing in the cup final; reports quickly surfaced that he had enjoyed a late night out in the lead-up to the big game and was thrown out of practice by Franco two days previously.
Like Eliyahu, Smith also chose not to respect the post-game ceremony and left the floor before the winners picked up their trophy.
The bright spot for Hapoel on Sunday was its fans, who cheered the team from start to finish, including after the game – despite being let down so badly by the players.
Eliyahu, who finished the final with 11 points, couldn’t hide his frustration after the game, and perhaps summed it up best.
“There was a lot of excitement ahead of the game, but that just made the disappointment greater,” he explained. “We believed we could win the final, but it blew up in our face.” •