Maccabi juggernaut hits Toronto
Players treated like ‘15 Michael Jordans’ in Israel
They’re the New York Yankees, the Montreal Canadiens and the old Boston Celtics all rolled into one. They’re as dominant as any basketball team you’ll find, a seamless steamroller that has won 45 of 51 Israeli titles and five European championships.
Players who wear the famous blue and yellow of Maccabi Tel Aviv, a team that’s in Toronto today to take on the Raptors, say it’s an incredible, almost indescribable experience. Asked if he’s recognized a lot in Tel Aviv, guard Derrick Sharp nods.
“Driving. Walking. At nighttime. With black shades on. They notice you still. It’s amazing over there.
“ The fans are what’s made the team,” Sharp said yesterday before a tightly- guarded Maccabi practice at the Air Canada Centre, one in which security guards were summoned to shoo the media away from their thirddeck perch lest they somehow learn a play or two and communicate it to the guys in purple and red. “ The fans are the reason we were European champs three of the last five years. And they’ll be here tomorrow. The game is just about sold out because there’s a big Jewish community here. Everywhere we go, the fans follow.”
“ We get the VIP treatment,” said former Raptor Maceo Baston, who joined Maccabi two years ago but was greeted warmly by Toronto staffers and former teammates yesterday. “ It’s like we’re 15 Michael Jordans over there.” Some observers say Maccabi Tel Aviv has more followers than the Israeli national team. When Maccabi beat Bologna two years ago for the Euro title, more than 250,000 fans sardined themselves into a Tel Aviv park to watch the game on a giant TV screen.
Like the Yankees, Maccabi has been accused of buying championships. Some say it’s to the detriment of Israeli basketball. But others say the publicity Maccabi has brought is priceless. Love them or not, there’s no denying the success of a team that was created in the mid- 1930’ s and joined the Israeli Basketball League when it was founded in 1954. They won the first Israeli title and have 44 more since, including 23 in a row between 1970 and 1992. They won the Euro title in 1977 and 1981, then again in 2001, 2004 and 2005.
“ They bring in a good mixture of guys. It’s mostly the character of the people they bring in ( that makes the difference),” said Sharp, who played college ball at the University of South Florida and became an Israeli citizen after spending a few years playing overseas. He’s married to former University of Toronto basketball star Justine Ellison. He and Ellison and their two children spend a month every summer in the Hamilton area, where his wife’s family lives.
Sharp said it’s not too big an adjustment from the U. S. to Israel.
“ It’s really Americanized and the people there are great. They love us and we love them. What you see on TV is not like what it is. It’s like being in any other country. They have places you stay out of and dangerous places, so you just have to know where to go and where to be.”
Sharp said basketball in Israel, however, is quite different.
“ Our style is more NBA style, we run and gun and try to get out on the open court. But most of the teams are more slowing down and grinding inside, a lot of fouls and tough, aggressive defence.
Raptors forward Matt Bonner played against Maccabi when he was employed in Europe a couple years ago, and understands what his team is up against. “They kind of have an aura about them,” he said. “ There’s a vibe or buzz when they walk in the gym. It’s like, ‘ Hey, that’s Maccabi Tel Aviv.’ ”