The Holy Land of Hoops

Hey guys long time lurker first time poster. Really like the site and will be posting a lot more as the season goes on. Just thought I would share this article from nj.com. As I'm sure some of you know Maayan was recently granted a waiver allowing him to come back and play for SHU. What isint really known is everything he and the school had to go through to get him back. Really shows a lot about his character and is definitely good press for the Big East.

http://www.nj.com/setonhall/index.ssf/2013/10/tom_maayan_seton_hall_israel.html#incart_river

Tommy is a great young man. I'm really hoping for a nice ovation for him at the first home game of the season.

I feel like Mayaan was a net negative for Seton Hall on the court. Not really sure why the staff fought so hard to bring him back. His inability to hit a shot, his refusal to even attempt shots at time, not to mention his atrocious turnover %. He had a pretty good assist rate, but his turnover rate was twice as high. I'd be shocked if he started anymore with Gibbs and Sina in the fold now. They have to be an improvement over Mayaan otherwise the Hall will really struggle again.

hoyahooligan wrote:I feel like Mayaan was a net negative for Seton Hall on the court. Not really sure why the staff fought so hard to bring him back. His inability to hit a shot, his refusal to even attempt shots at time, not to mention his atrocious turnover %. He had a pretty good assist rate, but his turnover rate was twice as high. I'd be shocked if he started anymore with Gibbs and Sina in the fold now. They have to be an improvement over Mayaan otherwise the Hall will really struggle again.

Willard's loyal. Family atmosphere at SHU. He brought the kid in from halfway around the world. Of course Willard would fight to keep the kid at SHU and allow him to get a free education while playing bball.

Will he start again? Probably not. But you can always used a seasoned bench player.

hoyahooligan wrote:I feel like Mayaan was a net negative for Seton Hall on the court. Not really sure why the staff fought so hard to bring him back. His inability to hit a shot, his refusal to even attempt shots at time, not to mention his atrocious turnover %. He had a pretty good assist rate, but his turnover rate was twice as high. I'd be shocked if he started anymore with Gibbs and Sina in the fold now. They have to be an improvement over Mayaan otherwise the Hall will really struggle again.

I think he will come off the bench to, but he is the only true point guard with Gibbs and Sina and Harris being combo guards. Also in his defense he was playing too many minuets as a freshman in one of the best conferences in the country due to Gibbs not being eligible. This was also one year coming off a torn ACL and his first year playing American style Basketball.

With his lock down defense and a year of practice I expect him to be much different than the player we saw last year.

At one point Maayan's eligibilty seemed sooo important for SHU on the court, especially after aaron cosby transferred, but most of that happened before the trajectory of the program and willard's fate became much brighter over this past couple of months. If he gets big minutes this season it'll be because Sterling Gibbs isn't who we need him to be and/or Sina is really a 6-1 SG and not a true PG yet. I'm hoping neither of those turns out to be the case.

Tom Maayan: “Last night was my last game as a pirate..I love my teammates! and have all the respect and love for my coaches!” he wrote on Facebook after the Pirates beat NJIT, 71-55."

http://zagsblog.com/articles/seton-halls-maayan-headed-home-to-israel-to-serve-in-army/

@BrendanPrunty: Kevin Willard announces that tonight's game was the last one for sophomore guard Tom Maayan. He is headed back to IDF in Israel.

@NJHoopsHaven: Willard on Maayan's departure (to Cohen & Popkin): "I'm probably gonna have a glass of scotch when I get home and give him a toast”

Here's a SlamOnline article about the sudden departure of Maayan from the Seton Hall program.

http://www.slamonline.com/online/news-rumors/other-news/2013/12/seton-hall-guard-tom-maayan-to-reenlist-in-israeli-defense-forces/