Telekom Bonn, a team with an honorable defensive profession, led on the track by TJ Shorts, a player just over 1.70 meters tall, very fast, very smart and with an offensive talent from a top Euroleague team, culminated this Sunday at the Martín Carpena your perfect weekend to raise the Basketball Champions League 2022/2023 to the Costa del Sol sky, with all its merits.
The Final Four of the BCL Málaga 2023 is already history. It has not ended as we all wanted, it is true, but it must be recognized that it has been a very good weekend of basketball that has been experienced at the Martín Carpena. The two semifinals on Friday were decided in the last attack, the third and fourth place was exciting and the final had less quality, but it was a balanced duel in which the Germans always commanded, but Hapoel never gave up.
The Hebrew team wins the European title and the not inconsiderable figure of one million euros for their coffers. A pasture that, well invested, will give them even more strength for the next 2023/2024 season in which Unicaja will try again and in which the Germans will be one of their main rivals to beat.
The match that decided the title was more exciting than brilliant. He was gaining cache with the passing of the minutes, but he did not have the spark or the rhythm of the “semis”. The defenses commanded a very poor first quarter in scoring. Above all, Hapoel became entangled in the defensive web of a Bonn team that was very thick in attack, but reached the 10th minute, doubling its rival on the scoreboard: 14-7.
the magic of TJ Shorts, MVP of the competition, raised the income of the Germans, who went 16, 30-14, with the small American point guard as their scoring guide (12 points in 13 minutes). Hapoel pulled with pride to hold on to the game at the break, 37-28. Only Levi Randolph It hurt a leader in the German league who set the pace that suited him best in the final.
The forces were equalized after the intermission. Hapoel grew based on patience in attack. He rowed and rowed until he was 2, 39-37 before the delirium of his “red tide”, which stained one of Carpena’s corners from top to bottom. The Chilean Herrera, with two triples, gave the same life to Telekom Bonn in full Jewish comeback attemptbut Hapoel also plugged in from 3 and everything remained to be decided for the final quarter: 57-55.
With the game close at hand, TJ Shorts appeared again to score 5 points in a row and put the Germans at +7. The MVP of the BCL is unstoppable in shooting, in penetrations and in direction. Hapoel wanted to, but couldn’t. For each attempt to get closer he found a response from his rival. The German part of the Carpena stands enjoyed a final minute with everything decided, while those from Jerusalem accepted the reality of 40 minutes in which their rival played better. Congratulations to Telekom Bonn.