By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Coming out on top of Group G during this year’s Regular Season, Hapoel Jerusalem – with Ilias Kantzouris for the first time on its bench in the Basketball Champions League – was called to a tough away trip to Athens, facing Peristeri.
It quickly translated into a dogfight battle that needed five extra minutes of playing time to raise one team’s hands high. Joe Ragland danced in traffic for what seemed the decisive layup to win the game, but Speedy Smith thought differently.
Faking the shot to go left and letting it fly after a wonderful ball movement to leave him open, the 31-year-old did what he does best: banking in at the buzzer to win games in the competition, opening a clearer path for the Israeli side in the Round of 16.
“My approach is to control the game as much as I can, trying to make my teammates happy”, he said to Eurohoops about stepping up everywhere this season after losing in last year’s Basketball Champions League Final over Telekom Baskets Bonn.
At the end of the day, we’re used to seeing this type of clutchness from him, as he has already shown several times so far since joining the European competition in 2020:
- With Limoges CSP vs – guess what? – Hapoel Jerusalem in 2020-21;
- With Rytas Vilnius vs Besiktas in 2021-22;
- With Rytas Vilnius vs San Pablo Burgos in 2021-22 (twice!);
- With Hapoel Jerusalem vs Galatasaray in 2023-24;
- With Hapoel Jerusalem vs Peristeri in 2023-24 – obviously.
❄️ @SpeedySmith_ made a career out of shots like these 👀#BasketballCL | @JerusalemBasket @RytasVilnius @limogescsp pic.twitter.com/q3B9sALBRE
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) January 25, 2024
From the G-League to almost touch gold in the BCL
Speedy Smith’s path to emerging as one of the most established point guards in the Basketball Champions League is at least curious. Coming out of college in 2015, he moved overseas to VEF Riga but came back home to try to seek an NBA opportunity through the G-League.
He stayed there for three straight seasons and met two current EuroLeague players. “I honestly believe that right now he’s the MVP of the EuroLeague”, he first said when asked about Keenan Evans, who played with him at Grand Rapids Drive in 2018-19. “A very talented guard, very poised and composure. Coming back from the injury he had, playing at the level he’s playing it’s amazing”, he added.
Despite Zalgiris “lacking a little bit of talent this year”, Keenan Evans is “averaging a high amount of points, still proving he’s the EuroLeague MVP at this point of the season”, he commented. “Derek Willis is a very talented shooter and passer, a versatile big: he can play the 4/5, and a little bit the 3. One of the teammates who listens the most about what’s going on. I appreciated playing with him, because by getting a lot of rebounds and running in transition with him it’s an advantage for any point guard”, he also said about the current Anadolu Efes player, with him in 2017-18.
Quite some years after leaving America for good, Speedy Smith found a place where showcase his ability in Limoges, almost averaging a double-double of 9.3 points and 10.0 assists over his first three Basketball Champions League games, following his FIBA Europe Cup experience with Spirou Basket. After 2021-22, the call from Vilnius came, and he left Lithuania by dragging Rytas to both the BCL Round of 16 and their last LKL Championship.
Facing Josh Nebo, at that time with Zalgiris Kaunas, he found him once again as an opponent in Israel, where he’s currently showcasing his talent in the EuroLeague. “He’s a really good defender, having him as a big on the opposite team it’s very hard to adjust to the game. He’s also gotten better with his one-on-one game. It’s always competitive between us because we had games in Lithuania, so we got back to that a lot”, Speedy Smith recalled about the Finals between Rytas Vilnius and Zalgiris Kaunas, while also collecting some more games in this special rivalry like last year’s Israeli Cup, with Jerusalem on top.
However, they couldn’t conclude the season on the first step of the podium in the Basketball Champions League, losing to Tuomas Iisalo and TJ Shorts’ Bonn in Malaga. “Coming back we wanted to make sure we handled our business this year. We all want to handle everything possible to win. The step is just being more dominant, and leading the team. We got there with our tools and our system, so we know ways to get back”, the 31-year-old admitted about a switch of mentality in coming back this season.
“But it will be a little bit different, considering the Basketball Champions League is tough as it has never been, with a lot of EuroLeague teams like Tenerife, Unicaja, or Pinar Karsiyaka. The circumstances right now are making things even tougher for us. We must have a whole idea of how we approach games. In the summer there’s preparation, but right now everything’s different”, he added about this year’s competition, in which he also shot from the other logo against PAOK. Yeah, it’s true.
😱😱😱 @SpeedySmith_ from the OTHER logo #BasketballCL I @JerusalemBasket pic.twitter.com/dPs8DXor4z
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) December 13, 2023
Wishing to come back to Jerusalem for the BCL
Due to the ongoing war, Hapoel Jerusalem has never played a single game at home this season in the Basketball Champions League, but they’re now back playing the Winner League. Speedy Smith’s desire – just like the whole club – is for the competition to make new decisions in the final part of the season.
Deciding to come back to the country just like other American players of Israeli teams, the experienced playmaker is sure. “It’s safe, I wouldn’t have come back if I didn’t believe it was safe, or if I hadn’t acknowledged the safety. I’ve lived my normal life now, I go to the grocery store. People surrounding me take care of myself. I believe it’d be amazing to host a Basketball Champions League game here this year, especially sometime soon”, he commented.
Just like Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Hapoel Holon, the black-and-red side is now back to reality when it comes to domestic games. “We play games in Israel with safety, games are packed out with fans. I believe it’s safe. I hope we will get the chance to have a BCL game here because we need it in the Round of 16 or Quarter-Finals. I don’t wanna say it would be fair to us, but I’m hoping they can do something about it”, he added.
“To host a game or two in our city, with our fans, would give the league even more highlights. When we have the support that we have from our community and our people, it highlights a lot of things that can shape out in a great way”, the former Rytas Vilnius player also said, touching on how difficult it has been to always play in somewhere’s else’s court. “It’s tough playing all these games on the road. We play on neutral site when the game is even, or on the road when there’s a -10 situation”, he added.
However, Hapoel Jerusalem can’t complain about their level of basketball, as their approach “has been pretty good so far”, and they look “to take another step against Tenerife”. Group G is surely one of the toughest out there, with also Peristeri and Pinar Karsiyaka on board. “We have the toughest group right now. The BCL is much respected now with the level of talent right there. a couple more pieces for everybody’s team and we’re talking EuroLeague, but the talent level is very high”, he said.
Also, these four teams all rely on veteran point guards, with Joe Ragland (Peristeri), Errick McCollum (Pinar Karsiyaka), and Marcelinho Huertas (Lenovo Tenerife). “I believe this is a point guard group with really talented leaders. I try to have the focus that I can, my team depends a lot on my contribution. I try to give my best each night, I give much respect for my opponents, but our team looks different: we were in a certain situation last year, we try to be hungry and get back there”, he said.
Despite Aleksandar Dzikic parting ways with the team midway through the season, he believes they can go all the way this year as well. “I have a leading MVP with Levi Randolph, he creates a lot of attention. We can play off each other. We have Zach [Hankins] and the great addition of JaCorey [Williams]. Also, I don’t think guys have even seen the best of Khadeen [Carrington] just yet. Once he gets going, there’s a lot of stuff we can take in place”, Speedy Smith commented.
Averaging 15.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the first two games of the Round of 16, the 31-year-old looks forward to the challenge ahead. “I’m excited. Playing against one of the greatest point guards in the Basketball Champions League, one of the greatest center-point guard duos [Marcelinho Huertas and Giorgi Shermadini] that there have been in the BCL. We looking forward to the challenge, I’m sure they are just like us. We know this is our chance to try to come out first in the Group, it should be really exciting”, he said about playing against the Canarians, who recently added Kyle Guy.
He took time to express once again the desire to play at home, finally. “We don’t get the game at home, but we have to take the most advantage possible. We know how tough it is to play in their place, and that’s something I wanna speak on too. In the BCL they’re 18-0 at home, we would have loved to have them here, with our fans and having just the same advantage they have at their home. But we’re gonna play as hard as we can, hopefully we come out on the greatest side of things”, Speedy Smith concluded.
Facing off against each other in last year’s Basketball Champions League Semi-Finals, Hapoel Jerusalem had the better of the two-time competition’s champions, ending with the silver medal in Malaga. Despite not being able to host Txus Vidorreta’s team in Israel, it’s a good opportunity to extend the winning streak to three games, staying unbeaten. With an eye on the near future, coming back home.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League