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Basketball / Lior Eliyahu eyes Europe as he reaches career crossroads By Arie Livnat While most headlines here on the NBA draft two years ago focused on the Seattle Supersonics selection of Yotam Halperin as the 53rd pick, another Israeli player was picked before him by the Orlando Magic (who later traded him to the Houston Rockets): Lior Eliyahu, the 44th pick in the draft, did not join the NBA that season, nor did Halperin. Instead, both joined Maccabi Tel Aviv. While Halperin had a hard time fulfilling the huge expectations expected of him, and was at one point booed by fans, Eliyahu integrated immediately. He was in the opening lineup, played 31 minutes a game, and averaged nice numbers (see table below). Big man Yaniv Green got off to a similar start the previous year and later disappeared, but Eliyahu played well consistently. In fact, he was one of the few good things to have happened to Maccabi that year. It was the best rookie year for the club since Oded Katash joined in 1996. Advertisement When the same Katash returned to Maccabi last season, this time as coach, he showered praise on Eliyahu. "He's the biggest talent to ever emerge from Israel - including myself," Katash said. Despite such compliments, Katash drastically cut Eliyahu's playing time. "When I came to Maccabi it was clear to me that I will play Lior a lot," the former Maccabi coach explains." But it was a complimented season. Lior's form was hurt by the absence of center Nikola Vujcic, who was injured. Vujcic knew how to play with Lior and pass him the ball." When Katash was sacked, the new coach, Zvika Sherf, played Eliyahu even less - in Sherf's first game as coach at Maccabi, he did not play Eliyahu at all. Though Eliyahu was featured in Maccabi's comeback in the Euroleague's Final Four, it was the last time he would play much that season. Eliyahu's father lashed out against Sherf's policy of not incorporating him into the rotation, and Lior was benched for the remainder of the season. Yoram Harush, a former assistant coach under Sherf, tries to explain what happened between Eliyahu and his former coach. "No one is happy with what happened to Lior," he says. "Every coach wanted to develop his players - it's just as important as winning titles. A coach takes pride in nurturing players. I'm sure everyone who worked with Lior wanted to help him." Tomer Steinhower, another basketball player who had an amazing season at Maccabi but could not repeat the same form over the following seasons, tries to explain the pressures Eliyahu is facing. "He got off to a bad start with Katash, and when his rotation was shortened, he vanished. Also, fellow Maccabi player Omri Casspi was given much of his time on court. Zvika also didn't think highly of him, and he just disappeared. His dad's outburst eliminated his chances of playing in the Israeli final four." Teammate Tel Burstein has only good things to say about Eliyahu's talent, and does not understand why his potential has not been fulfilled. "He's rare talent and he can make it, they just don't know how to handle him," Burstein says. "He's not the world's hardest worker, but he's not lazy: He does what he's told." Before he joined Maccabi Tel Aviv, Eliyahu. 22, starred on the Israeli youth team. But in the final minutes of a big game against Lithuania, then coach Ya'akov Jino decided to keep him on the bench. Jino, who has coached teams abroad for the past two seasons, does not understand how Eliyahu has been sidelined. "He's a huge talent, and he showed that to everyone when he got off to a good start at Maccabi," Jino says, adding a few tips for Eliyahu: "He has to improve his body strength and his defense, which I'm sure he did the first year at Maccabi. Also, he needs to improve his long-range shooting." Steinhower is a bit more critical of the player, and claims he needs to improve his shooting abilities fast. "At a distance of two meters from the hoop, he is no longer effective," Steinhower says. While Halperin had an OK season and signed with Olympiacos, Eliyahu still has no contract. Tau Vitoria and a few others have been rumored as interested in signing him, but they still have not made any concrete offers. In any case, he will have to fight for minutes on the court wherever he goes. Before he leaves, Eliyahu faces a big dilemma: Should he put his past differences with Sherf aside, or should he refuse to play for the national team, which is coached by the former Maccabi coach with whom he did not get along? "The national team is the national team," Steinhower argues. "He has to ignore those things and show up if he is invited. They also said that I didn't get along with Zvika, but the peak of my career was at the European championship in Spain. Eliyahu now faces an opportunity to grow in Europe. He's still not an NBA player, but if he works hard he can get there." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Baptism by fire Bradley Burston offers 10 Mideast traps for Barack Obama to avoid. A second life 'Exodus' passenger makes aliyah six decades after being turned away.

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