The center shattered personal records in points, rebounds and PIR
Chachashvili’s magic night boosted Jerusalem over Bourg
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Regular Season
Round 8 of 18
Group B
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Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem survived a hard fight against BKT EuroCup runner-up Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse at Samokov Arena on Wednesday night. Both teams entered the game with 5-2 records, and a win would confirm second place in Group B for one of them.
It seemed Bourg was in good disposition of achieving it, as it dominated 37-41 at halftime, but a fierce reaction after the intermission with a 21-8 run in the 6 first minutes of the third period turned the tables and set the foundations for a valuable and well-deserved victory.
“We elevated our aggressiveness in the third quarter," explained Hapoel head coach Yonatan Alon. “Second quarter was we already better, but we were aggressive defensively and offensively.”
But besides mentioning team effort, Yalon had some words for a couple of players who took turns in the spotlight despite a non-starring role in previous games.
“I think we have a very talented team. People don't understand how talented players like [Gabriel] Chachashvili and [Or] Cornelius really are.”, he said. “They can give us a lot and I don't want them to look at Jared Harper and Khadeen Carrington and ask them to score for us. No, we have every time on the floor five talented players, and they need to perform and to believe in themselves”
Speaking specifically about Chachashvili, the truth is that he seemed to believe in himself more than anyone, anytime. The 24-year-old center was among the top talents of his generation in Israel and signed with Jerusalem in the summer of 2023 after a season in Germany with high expectations. However, injuries cost him to miss most of the season and the start of this one. But then, when Jerusalem lost Austin Wiley and Justin Smith to injuries, the opportunity was there for Chachashvili.
He enjoyed good playing minutes this season, averaging 5.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.6 PIR in 18:21 minutes on the court, but had never scored more than 7 points, grabbed more than 6 boards or recorded more than 8 PIR in any of his 7 games in his debut season.
Against Bourg, Chachashvili exploded with a monster double-double of 20 points and 11 boards, going 8 of 12 from two, good for a 29 PIR that shattered all his previous marks. He first showed up in the second quarter, scoring 8 of Jerusalem's last 10 points before halftime, and played a major role in his team’s reaction early in the third period with 6 more points and key rebounds and steals to construct a double-digit lead, 72-59, that proved definitive.
“We talked at halftime. We said that we really wanted to pick up the aggressiveness on defense and get more stops, and play a little bit more simple on offense”, Chachashvili said. “And I think we did both of those things. Everybody had a really good game. […] Everybody did their part to beat such a good team."
With Chachashvili looking strong and Derek Ogbeide adding more power with 6 points and 7 rebounds in less than 13 minutes in his second game with the club, Jerusalem has plenty of reasons for optimism.