Basketball / He gets Gershon, and he's beginning to deliver the goods

Alan Anderson was one of the few players on Maccabi Tel Aviv who never looked intimidated by the New York Knicks on Sunday night. While Pini Gershon's courtside antics caught the headlines, Anderson provided a few highlight film-worthy moves - particularly one drive to the basket where he sliced through the defense and finished off with a slam dunk. His 20 points and five rebounds were the bright spot in Maccabi Tel Aviv's 106-91 loss.

"Very versatile" is how Anderson sums up his advantages. However, he says it would take more than two sentences to describe his shortcomings. So, the swingman says he understands whenever Gershon or any other coaching staff member castigates him. "Believe me," he adds, "I'm my own greatest critic." Sunday's performance indicates he has taken Gershon's comments to heart.

The way he played, however, belies the journey that has taken him to Maccabi's starting five.

Although the Michigan State graduate just turned 27 this month, Anderson has had his shares of ups and downs. He has suffered recurring injuries, including one to his right knee in Michigan State's thrilling 2005 regional final against Kentucky that led to his worst performance of the season - going scoreless against North Carolina in the Final Four.

His knee likely cost him a spot in the 2005 NBA draft. He signed as a free agent with the Charlotte Bobcats, averaging 5.2 points per game in 42 appearances before being cut early in the 2006-07 season.

He did better in the NBA's D-League, averaging 15.8 ppg with the Tulsa 66ers, which helped him get back onto the Bobcats' roster for the remainder of the 2006-07 season.

He tried his luck in Europe over the next two years, but had a rocky time personally playing for VidiVici Bologna (2007-08) and Triumph Lyubertsy (2008) in Russia.

He was reluctant to try again when his agent told him he could get a contract with Cibona Zagreb for the second half of the 2008-09 season, but he ended up leading the team to a double title and winning MVP honors in the 2009 Croatian Cup.

Anderson says he's does better under pressure, and that he tells himself that someone has got to take the deciding shot so it might as well be him.

Although he signed with Maccabi in May, he did try to make it back into the NBA via its summer league, playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

When he wasn't offered an NBA contract, he finalized with Maccabi. He says he's heard only great things about the perennial Israeli champion. He admits that previously he associated Israel with war and killing, but that after spending a little over a month in the country, he says that the image most Americans have of the country is simply wrong.

In addition, he says he has not found anything bad to say about Maccabi, either, and that Maccabi treats him just as well as any of the European clubs.

Anderson was Maccabi's top scorer during practice games in France and Germany, and led the team in both its 101-80 Winner Cup quarterfinal triumph over Ashkelon and its 87-65 semifinal drubbing of Gilboa/Galil with 21 and 15 points, respectively. Lest anyone be concerned that Anderson is selfish with the ball, he asserts that while he has no problem taking the rock to the hoop, he also is the first to understand that you need a team to win and not just one player or another.

Anderson is clear about his ambitions for Maccabi.

"I want to win everything," he says, "because for me it's either first place or no place." He cites Derrick Sharp as an example, noting that he's famous in Israel not because he has played for 14 years but because he won so much. "It's nice to be a professional basketball player," he says, "but without winning you don't have too much to show for it."

The swingman says he knows that there is no such thing as stars with coach Gershon, who once benched Lithuanian hotshot Sarunas Jasikevicius an entire half for breaking one of his rules.

"I get Pini, and I love these types of coaches," he says. According to Anderson, Tom Izzo - his coach at Michigan State - would get on players' cases not just on the court, but also about their studies, their partying and their eating.

He says he doesn't care whether a coach is a buddy or keeps his distance because it's all about mutual respect.

"It's especially important to me that the coach shows that he cares about me," says Anderson, and he feels that with Gershon. "Sometimes he really yells or gets annoyed, but then [assistant coach] Sharon Drucker comes and balances him out," he says. "They complement each other. Pini yells at you, and then Sharon catches you on the side and quietly explains to you [the situation]."