By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
One more episode in the serial of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Sofoklis Schortsanitis relationship is unflolding during the last days in Israel. The Greek center sprained his leg on Friday and until Sunday’s morning the team was expecting to know if he could play in the Israeli cup final. The player after consulting with the team’s doctors, said that couldn’t step on his foot and he missed the big game.
Sofo didn’t even travel to Jerusalem, where the game was played. Maccabi won the cup and organized a dinner for the 42th cup of its history. Sofo missed also the dinner, a move that fueled reports in the local press about his coaches, teammates and club management being discontent by his behaviour. The injured captain Guy Pnini was quoted saying: “Sofo should have been here”.
Nothing official is said about this situation by the club, but there are leaks to the beat reporters about the “anger” of the team towards Schortsanitis. However Sofoklis missed almost every team dinner after a big win, not only in Maccabi but in every club he was a player.
According to reports, coach Guy Goodes is unhappy with the situation and he is thinking about keeping him out of the team. The same thing happened with Alex Tyus, when he also insisted that he was injured and team officials said that he could and should play, despite the possible pain. It remains to be seen if Sofo will be used or not in the game against Panathinaikos.
Still the big question is what will happen in the long run and if this situation will affect the decision of both sides in the summer, as Sofo’s contract expires. However, before the start of the season, when Sofo had an eye issue and was overweight, the local press reported that he was practically gone from Maccabi and that’s why Aleks Maric was signed. Still, after two months, Sofo was back with the team and a key member during the first round of Top16.