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Foto Start
Orli Klinger
,10/17/2009 |
In the last weekend before the season opens, the light in Safsal's offices was on till way past late. All our thoughts for the upcoming season are here before you, even though we couldn't pick a favorite. Maybe you could.
Also check out:
Karin Agassi's new blog entry!
Kristi Toliver interview
Preseason Coaches Poll
This really isn't fair. You grow accustomed to something, a normal league with two top teams, two teams knocking on the door, and two others fighting for 5th as they mourn missing out on the final four yet again. You don’t hear much about the rest. Then, out of nowhere, one offseason changes everything and creates a situation where no one has any clue about what's going to happen. We also have no clue, not about who's going to win or about what to write in this preview, but we'll make it up as we go.
Anybody's Game
A coaches' poll with three different champions, four different finalists, four players with MVP votes. A preseason tourney held too far away for us working people to attend, short press releases about buzzer beaters in both semi finals. A nail biting final on TV that does little to contribute to our assessment of who's better than who. Add small chats with players and coaches that bring up things like "Jerusalem won't be an easy game" or "I was impressed with Natanya" and you see how we ended up not knowing what to write in the season preview. The crystal ball just wouldn't commit on anything.
Still, the arrow head in this race is made up of Ramat Hasharon, Ramla and Ashdod, not necessarily in that order. All three have great foreigners and leading Israelis, all three built a team with the championship as their goal, all three have pretty different styles. Behind them in the chasing pack it seems that Ramat Hen, Natanya, Holon & Raanana Hertzelia will fight for the final four. Jerusalem, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Tel Kabir are expected to bring up the rear.
The Big Three
The only teams who got a vote for going all the way in the coaches poll are last year's finalist and the newly crowned "winner cup" holder, Ashdod. Ashdod beat both finalists in the aforementioned winner cup tourney and looked great. All three teams have a case for winning the championship, with an accompanying "but" clause. In alphabetical order, here are the evidence.
Maccabi Ashdod signed two of the best posts in the league, Courtney Paris who was the best center in college hoops in the last 4 years, and Ashley Walker who turned California to a significant force. The very physical Paris and the far more versatile Walker give Ashdod two back-to-the-basket scorers, something that's as rare in our league as a title not going to Ramat Hasharon or Ramla. Both of them will also grab a whole lot of boards and allow Adan Inbar to always keep one of them on the court and hurt most teams who have no back up center. Also, unlike in previous years Ashdod gathered a group of experienced Israelis that provide depth, and resigned guard Natasha Lacy who looked incredible in preseason.
But this season, like in recent years and even more than usual, the league belongs to the guards and the fast pace. Heavy teams like Ashdod built this year, we're usually used to seeing in Ramat Hasharon when they won in Europe and struggled in the league. Teams will probably try to play zone and keep Ashdod from throwing it inside every time down, and Ashdod will have to rely on the 39 year old Lena Mustafina and Lacy to open up the defense. Throw in a couple more intangibles like the tradition Ashdod lacks and the pressure they put on themselves ("anything but a cup final and a final 4 would be a huge failure" said the chairman), and you see why we're not convinced Ashdod – who hasn’t made the final 4 since 2003 – will win the championship.
Elizur Ramla , who had a title-less season for the first time since that 05/06 year in Division II, also built a very strong team. Like Ashdod, Ramla also has top Israelis, two American bigs, even a center named Paris. At least on paper Ramla has the best foreign group in the league – with the fabulous Deanna Jackson who's back after a long ACL recovery, Noelle Quinn who should be one of the league's best scorers, Ashley Paris who can match up with her twin in Ashdod and a bet on a Romanian PG who's looking pretty good so far. Those four, along with the never ending Ina Gourevitch, Shimrit Gigi who broke out last year in Raanana and the tradition and support of Ramla – give Noa Richanati all the tools to win a title, something she definitely knows how to do.
But Ramla also has some issues we can't overlook. The main one – ball handling. We haven’t seen enough of Ancuta Stonesco to decide, but even assuming she does her part, Ramla has no natural PG to spell her. Ortal Oren is the closest thing and Ramla will probably let Quinn run things a little like she did in LA. This could be a problem against the small and speedy PGs rival coaches will let loose on them. Defense could also be an issue against those scoring guards. Also, unlike recent years, Ramla has no Katia (Israeli post) on the bench to give them a relative edge.
So maybe we'll go with the defending champs of Electra Ramat Hasharon, who also signed excellent foreigners and is the only one of the three to have a big time Israeli NT player. Young center Kia Vaughn racked up three preseason MVP votes from the league's coaches, Ambrosia Anderson looks like a great forward that fits right in with the league, Sheri Sam will provide experience and nail the occasional big shot, Laine Selwyn and her title-packed resume will run the show and maybe Merav Dori will finally get her 30 something minutes per game and show consistency. Off the bench Orna Ostfeld has experienced guards (Haelyon, Cohen) and a neutralizer (Kresna). After ending a six year championship drought last year, the expectations from Ramat Hasharon couldn't be any higher.
But out of the three, Ramat Hasharon is the only team with just one post player. Without Vaughn on the floor, there's nobody to guard the Paris' of the world, of the Jacksons, or even Holon's young posts. Ramat Hasharon is 100% depended on Vaughn and will have to get mighty creative when she has foul trouble. In addition, we're not sure how much gas is left in Sam's tank, who's about to play a full season in Israel for the first time.
The Chasing Pack
We're pretty sure that those top three are above the rest, but behind them we expect a game of musical chairs. Ramat Hen, Natanya, Holon & Raanana Hertzelia will beat each other all season, and no outcome would be considered a major surprise.
We'll start with the Israeli cup holder, Maccabi Ramat Hen, who seems a wee bit above the rest right now thanks to tradition and Israel's internal affairs bureaucracy. Due to an idiotic law, Ramat Hen couldn’t resign Ayana Walker and ended up signing Tiffany Jackson, a NY Liberty forward and one of our MVP candidates. Jackson is a great offensive player who should put up Plenette Pierson or Deanna Jackson type numbers. Ramat Hen is also set at the point position with Shannon Bobbit, 157 cm of energy and leadership. Michal Epstein and Noa Ganor who resigned from last year round up the starting five along with Carrem Gay. Gay, a young forward who was never accused of being a scorer, has looked pretty good in preseason. But Ramat Hen has no back up for Bobbit, or anything remotely close to a PG on the bench. In fact the bench is mostly two 20 year old guards who'll try to break out – Lin Golan & Dana Yahalomi. Let's just say that without Jackson, you'd have to scroll further to read about Ramat Hen, who also doesn't have a reliable three point shooter.
Elizur Maccabi Natanya opened the offseason with two major signings of national team players who transferred from the defending champs – Liad Suez Karni & Nomi Kolodny. Those signings made a statement that in their 2nd season in Div I, Natanya wants to make some noise. Two key NT players is more than what most teams have, and they'll be backed up by veteran Taly Noy and youngster Roni Ben Nun. In the last minute Natanya also signed a proven quality post in Monique Coker, and they'll hope the gambles on the other foreigners pay off. Okeisha Howard, a PG who'll play a lot of SG, looked pretty good in preseason. Marshay Dotson also put up nice numbers but we're not sure how she, Coker and Suez Karni will work. Dotson & Coker do put Natanya in the exclusive "more than one post" club, but it also makes them pretty heavy.
On to Elizur Holon, who on a given night could definitely beat the teams we already talked about. Reoccurring theme this season. Tal Natan built a young team with three good foreigners. The familiar face is Tamara Runsburg who will need to put up similar numbers to her 19 & 13 in Natanya last season for Holon to be successful. The contribution of Rashanda McCants, and athletic forward on both ends who can put up 30 or stop at 7, will also be crucial. In the backcourt Angela Tisdale will need to provide points along side Bat El Lazmi, Holon's only proven Israeli. Holon also has something no other team does – and Israeli post – and they have two. Revital Carmon who came back after 4 years in college and Inbar Orion who also played in college and in DII last year. If one of them, or both, break out this year – it'll be a big advantage for Holon and a bigger gain for Israeli basketball.
Last but not least we get to the youngest team in the league, Bnot Hasharon of Raanana Hertzelia. On paper there's no telling what to expect from them. On one hand, you have a team with a very successful tradition of winning in the last few years, an excellent coach in Shiki Falah and league's most exciting foreigner in Kristi Toliver - a great PG with a sweet shot and ice water in her veins. But Bnot Hasharon relay heavily on two first time starters – Karin Agasi & Chen Shtain – and on a bench made out mostly of teenagers. Up front Olayinka Sanni will have to fight rival posts and she has no backup, not even forward Alex Anderson who's more a 3 than a 4. For Bnot Hasharon to make some noise, the Israelis will have to follow the example Shimrit Gigi set last season and capitalize on their chance to break out.
And the last 1/4s spot goes to…
The playoff format this year changed to a 8 team 1/4 final series, as 1 meets 8 and 2 meets 7 and so on. Right now it seems that Hapoel Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Tel Kabir will fight for that 8th spot that leads to a short series, and for the 9th that keeps you in division 1.
If Hapoel Tel Aviv and their new sponsor don't decide to spend less money on the fancy house in Ashkelon and more on the players, Jerusalem is expected to grab 8th place. With a far better roster than what we're used to see from them, including names like Edwina Brown and Diamond Rogers and two other Americans, Jerusalem has something to work with. The local youngsters Keren Nechama and Rivka Ross will try to break out and Inbal Mizrachi will run the offense. Hapoel meanwhile will soon suffer from playing different lineups in the Eurocup and in the league, get tired from traveling and yes from losing. Tel Kabir also signed decent foreigners and has more experienced Israelis, but not necessarily more talent, and Brashida Elohim gives Jerusalem a big edge.
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