Basketball /The quiet Israeli

The atmosphere in the Maccabi Tel Aviv locker room after its 98-91 defeat of Gilboa/Galil last week was a mixture of joy and shock. "Pnini, how did you score 19 before the half?" a teammate asked Guy Pnini. "Not only that, but you didn't hit a single shot in the second half!"

Pnini answered with a smile. "That's just me - that's the progress I've made in a nutshell."

In just a few months, the 2.01-meter (6'7") small forward has transformed himself from a new, untested presence at Maccabi to the team's leading Israeli player.

Tonight, as the Israeli champion hosts Greece's Maroussi Athens BC in its fifth Euroleague game, the team's Israeli players will be looking to Pnini as the homegrown leader who can lead them to a W.

Maccabi is currently leading Group C with three wins and a single loss, while its Greek visitor has the inverse record - three losses and a single win.

Pnini played at Bnei Hasharon and Hapoel Jerusalem before donning the signature yellow jersey. The Tel Aviv native signed with Maccabi while still under contract to Jerusalem, a move that Hapoel refused to accept without a fight.

A battle ensued between the rival clubs over the player, but rather than stay in Israel to fight it out, Pnini signed with Keravnos of the Cypriot league.

After his year in exile (in which he led Keravnos to the final), Pnini was finally allowed to suit up with Maccabi for the current season.

"At every Israeli team I've played I've been told that I'd be the ninth or tenth player in the rotation. And every time I heard that I accepted it," said Pnini, who has also earned himself a slot on the Israel national team. "I told my coaches I'd take what I was given, and I knew that with that attitude the only direction would be up."