We got off to a great start leading by 6 at the end of the first quarter, and showing Maccabi TA that we were ready to go, and that we were not going to lay down for them. The second quarter went back and forth, and I got an opportunity to check in the game with a minute left until half-time. This was a pretty neat experience because right when I got in, I had the assignment to guard Carlos Arroyo. For those of you who don't know who he is, he had a 7-year NBA career before deciding to sign in Israel for 3 million untaxed dollars a year. Anyway, he missed a shot, they got the offensive rebound back, and got the ball back to him, and he tried to isolate me one on one from the top of the key. After he gave me a quick cross-over move, I was able to stay close enough to contest his shot, and he ended up missing front rim, a big win for me hahahahah. I also got an open look from 3 on the other end, which I missed back-rim. I'm still mad at myself for missing that shot, but not much I can do now!!
We went into half-time down 5, and played great in the 3rd quarter to take a 1 point lead going into the 4th. In the 4th we just ran out of gas, and were not able to hit shots when we needed them. We ended up losing by 11, but it was a 4 point game with 1:30 minutes to go, basically way closer than the final score indicated.
We are obviously very disappointed we weren't able to take advantage of a great opportunity, but now we can't wait to get a shot at them in our own gym late in the season.
The week ahead is big for us, we have a cup game Wednesday, and we play Bnei Hasharon next Saturday. Not to mention, Scott and Gale Golden will be making their touchdown to the homeland Saturday morning before the Bnei game.
I will update everyone after the 'Cup Game', because if we win that we are in the Cup Final Four. Hope everyone had a great weekend, and I will be back soon!
