Hapoel's bench players outscored the starters in Tuesday's rout
Total team effort was key to Hapoel’s thrashing of Trento
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Opening a double-digit lead may not be a tough challenge for a team that boasts Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv’s offensive prowess. Yet, maintaining it for most of the game takes a huge effort from starters and bench players alike. Hapoel’s starters set the tone on Tuesday evening at Samokov Arena in Bulgaria, but it was the second unit that stole the limelight in the 89-68 home victory over Dolomiti Energia Trento in Round 14.
Coach Dimitris Itoudis’s side secured their first double-figure advantage thanks to Bruno Caboclo’s first triple of the game to make it 29-17 a few seconds into the second quarter. From that point on, Hapoel never looked back, with its reserves outscoring the starters 49-40.
The protagonist of the second unit was Caboclo, who came off the bench to stretch the floor with his ability to punish opponents who allow him open looks from beyond the arc. Having gone 3-for-4 from deep, the Hapoel big man finished the duel with a season-high 19 points.
After the clash, Caboclo stressed that Itoudis has managed to squeeze out the maximum of each of his players.
“He’s on us a lot and I think that this brings urgency from everybody,” Caboclo said. “Even on the bench, guys who play 2 minutes give a lot on the court and I think that this is what makes us a very good team.”
Nine different players opened their account before the break and 11 of the 12 who stepped onto the floor managed to celebrate a score of their own by the final whistle. Yet, the only player who went scoreless was one of those who stood out with his outing.
Ish Wainright ended the game with 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals, hustling for each ball in his 21:02 minutes on the floor. His performance forced Itoudis to single the forward out, with the Greek coach being full of praise for Wainright after the win.
“We were in control of the game from the beginning to the end,” the Hapoel boss noted. “We really played team basketball. We wanted to try different lineups and managed to stay on the same level even though we were changing lineups. We have players like Ish Wainright, who was scoreless, but helped the team equally as Bruno Caboclo, who was the first scorer.”
Having extended its winning streak to three games, Hapoel will look to build on its momentum next week away at Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. Should Itoudis’s side pull off a similar team effort at Moraca, Hapoel would have laid the foundation for its 10th win of the season.