With such a roster, you can certainly dream: will Hapoel Jerusalem go all the way in the EuroCup?
Dror Hoffman and Roi Zuckerman analyzed the intriguing roster being built in the capital: "A combination of players with upside who have not yet been in Europe and hungry players." Watch "Double Dribble".
In the latest episode of "Double Dribble," Walla Sport editor Dror Hoffman and Roi Zuckerman discussed the intriguing roster being built by Hapoel Jerusalem and its chances of going all the way in the EuroCup.
"There was a lot of criticism from the crowd, that the team does not make an impact, that the team is not investing enough in the current era," Hoffman said. "In this regard, you can check it off. Gal Mekel, Dan Shamir, Matan Adelson, and Sasha Obradovic can check it off. Because today, pay attention: Kenny Lofton, a contract that moves roughly in the area of one million dollars, or a little more. Shake Milton, between one million and one and a half million. David Roddy, between one million and one and a half million. Jared Harper, 1.7 million. Jaylin Smith, between 850 thousand and one million dollars. I estimate that Miletic might be a bit cheaper."
Zuckerman replied: "How much did you say? Five players over one million dollars? There was the quote from Yonatan Alon, who said that Hapoel Jerusalem is not built for a player over one million dollars — and look what happened."
Hoffman analyzed the red roster: "I really like what Hapoel Jerusalem is doing, and I also have a nice explanation. I really like that there is a combination here of players with upside, hungry players who have not yet been in Europe, proven European players, and players who are in the middle. Jared Harper is proven. Jaylin Smith is proven. Miletic, who is going to come, is proven. Last year he was one of the four-to-five best big men in the EuroCup, playing for Cluj-Napoca, a team that I really like.
"Now let’s talk about players who, let’s call it that, are question marks, coming with a lot of upside. David Roddy is one such player; he came from the Denver Nuggets. Kenny Lofton is a player with upside, hungry. Shake Milton is in the middle. He is between proven European: in the EuroLeague it went less well for him, and he was also injured. On the other hand, in the Adriatic League he put up averages close to 14 points. We always know that the second year is a better year. Also Kaikuk, a player who played a year in Murcia, already knows Europe. Listen, on the face of it, it’s a great roster — and I didn’t even talk about the Israelis."
