Bnei Hasharon – Maccabi Rishon: Game 4 Preview

After a gut wrenching loss at home, Bnei Hasharon will fight for their playoff lives tomorrow in Rishon Lezziyon. With a 2-1 deficit heading into Game Four of its first round playoff series with Maccabi Rishon, Bnei Hasharon’s season will come to a close with a loss in “Wine Town.” After struggling in the second half of its previous two match ups, the team will need to pull everything together to save its season.

Over the course of the year, Bnei Hasharon has shown that they are very tough to beat when they focus and work together. However, in this series, the offense has looked lost in the second half of games, filled with many sloppy turnovers and very few open looks. It will be up to point guard, Ron Steele, to take back command of the offense, just as he has throughout the season. When Steele takes control of the game, his penetration and court vision open up the offense of wing men Ben Rice, Filberto Rivera and Dan Grunfeld, which in turn opens up the middle for big men Shawn James, Lee Nailon and Bryant Dunston. Unfortunately, to this point in the series, the flow of the team’s offense has been disrupted, mostly thanks to the stifling defense of Dwayne Mitchel and Raymar Morgan, resulting in errant passes and difficult shot attempts.

Bnei Hasharon may be down, but they are not out for the count. Throughout the season, the team has shown an ability to come together and take on tough challenges, such as when they took down Maccabi Tel-Aviv earlier this season. Even after two tough losses, there is no doubt that head coach, Dan Shamir, will have his team prepared to lay everything on the line in Rishon Lezziyon on Sunday evening. While Raymar Morgan surely will come prepared to fight his way to his third consecutive Final Four, after two straight appearances in the big dance with Michigan State University, his ticket to the Nokia Theater will not come without a fight. Be sure to tune in Sunday night at 19:45 to catch Game Four of this exciting playoff series.