With the impressive win in the Euroleague Final Four, two Israeli teams now hold leading European basketball league titles simultaneously. Hapoel Jerusalem won the Euroleague B (ULEB) cup in Belgium on April 13.
The final result of the game in the Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv was nearly a foregone conclusion right from the start. As Bologna coach Jasmin Repesa later admitted, "The game was over in the first quarter." The 120,000 basketball fans who crowded both the stadium and the Yehoshua (Yarkon) Park in Tel Aviv, where the game was broadcast live on a giant screen, were positively certain of victory long before the Israelis rushed to a 10-point lead in under six minutes.
Shooting guard Anthony Parker, who played with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers from 1997-1999, was named Final Four MVP with 21 points. But in a unique moment, just before raising the Euroleague trophy aloft, team captain Gur Shelef called teammate Derrick Sharp to the microphone with him and said, "Be like Derek. We all should take an example from him."
After the game, Sharp told Israel TV Channel One, "This was the fun game. The hard part was to get here. This is the icing on the cake."
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Pini Gershon, who was not at morning practice as he is Shabbat-observant, thanked those who prayed for the team and said, "We played an amazing game today. It's something people will talk about for years." Referring both to Hapoel Jerusalem's ULEB win and his own team's Euroleague win, Gershon said, "In general, I can say that Israel is a basketball superpower."
Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem will face each other Thursday in a battle for the national title.
The final result of the game in the Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv was nearly a foregone conclusion right from the start. As Bologna coach Jasmin Repesa later admitted, "The game was over in the first quarter." The 120,000 basketball fans who crowded both the stadium and the Yehoshua (Yarkon) Park in Tel Aviv, where the game was broadcast live on a giant screen, were positively certain of victory long before the Israelis rushed to a 10-point lead in under six minutes.
Shooting guard Anthony Parker, who played with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers from 1997-1999, was named Final Four MVP with 21 points. But in a unique moment, just before raising the Euroleague trophy aloft, team captain Gur Shelef called teammate Derrick Sharp to the microphone with him and said, "Be like Derek. We all should take an example from him."
After the game, Sharp told Israel TV Channel One, "This was the fun game. The hard part was to get here. This is the icing on the cake."
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Pini Gershon, who was not at morning practice as he is Shabbat-observant, thanked those who prayed for the team and said, "We played an amazing game today. It's something people will talk about for years." Referring both to Hapoel Jerusalem's ULEB win and his own team's Euroleague win, Gershon said, "In general, I can say that Israel is a basketball superpower."
Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem will face each other Thursday in a battle for the national title.