By JEREMY LASTHapoel jerusalem 298.88(photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
It was just another day at the office for Hapoel Jerusalem.
The team from the capital won its eighth straight BSL game on Monday night, trouncing sorry Maccabi Givat Shmuel 101-86 and ending the first round of 11 league games top of the standings with a superb 10-1 record.
"I'm happy with the way things are going. Our attacking game is the most important aspect and it was good again today," said Hapoel's understated head coach Guy Goodes after the game, before managing to find a way to criticize his team.
"Despite the fact that we are in good fitness, we are missing something mentally and that has affected our defense," Goodes added.
It was the second game between the two teams in four days, but the end result was nearly exactly the same.
Just like in the cup game at Malha on Thursday, Hapoel swept into a strong lead and never gave an inch to the visiting Givat Shmuel team.
A three-point effort by Sharon Shasson gave the home side a 16-8 advantage and, although Cory Carr put in a good showing for Givat Shmuel with 17 points in the first half, the team in blue could hardly keep up with its opponent.
By half time Jerusalem was leading 54-46. The Reds took a 83-65 advantage into the last quarter and never looked back.
Power forward Omar Sneed, the inspiration for Jerusalem, just missed out on a double-double, scoring a game-leading 29 points and passing nine assists.
The 32-year-old averaged 17.4 points over the first eleven league games of the season and was named MVP of the first round by the BSL The second round is going to be much tougher and we need to stay focused," Sneed said.
Also Monday, Hapoel held a joint press conference with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat where it was announced that work on the much anticipated new basketball arena in Jerusalem would begin by the end of 2009.
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