By Amy Samin<\/FONT> In the preseason, and during the first Israeli League and Euroleague games, one thing was obvious: Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv was far from being a cohesive team. \u201cPlaying for Maccabi was my childhood dream,\u201d says the forward. About his being benched by Zvika Sherf last season, Eliyahu says, \u201cUp until then, I was still pretty euphoric (about being on the team). And what about the rest of this season? \u201cI was really afraid that I was starting another season during which I wouldn\u2019t play,\u201d said Eliyahu, who refused to answer questions about Sherf or his current coach. In case you\u2019re wondering, Eliyahu, who was chosen in the NBA draft by the Houston Rockets, hasn\u2019t given up his dream of playing in the best league in the world, but he realizes that there are still things he needs to improve before that can happen.
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But if there\u2019s one player on the team you can count on, it\u2019s Lior Eliyahu who, after a tough season last year, is getting full support from head coach Efy Birenboim and has an average of 14.5 points in the games against Cibona and Avellino.<\/FONT>
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\u201cIn fact, it still sometimes seems like a dream.
When we\u2019re out there warming up before a game, there are already 3,000 \u2013 4,000 fans watching; you can hear their shouts and cheers.
Then, when Derrick (team captain Derrick Sharp) is introduced, the whole crowd is on their feet.
My next dream is to win the European Championship with Maccabi.\u201d<\/FONT>
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With everything that happened, I became depressed.
In the middle of the season, when I wasn\u2019t playing at all, Mony Fanan asked me, \u2018Lior, do you think you\u2019ll remember this when you go out on the court to play in the semi-finals of Final Four?\u2019
He was right, I didn\u2019t remember it then.\u201d<\/FONT>
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\u201cFor now, I have no complaints.
I just want us to keep winning.
The Israeli League has really improved, and there\u2019s no such thing as an easy game.
There\u2019s maybe one or two teams we can dominate, but that\u2019s it.
As far as the Euroleague goes, we know that the teams we\u2019ve beaten so far are not the best Europe has to offer.\u201d<\/FONT>
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\u201cMy thanks go to Efy.
He gives support to his players, and corrects their mistakes in a positive way.
If I\u2019m approached in a negative way, I just can\u2019t give good results.\u201d<\/FONT>
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\u201cObviously, it will be hard for me to get into the NBA without good shooting skills; that\u2019s something I need to work on.
I need about 2 \u2013 3 months to do nothing but work on that.
I don\u2019t know how close I really am to that league.
It\u2019s a matter of being in the right place at the right time.\u201d <\/FONT>
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