Skyline Conference Preview with YU Maccabees Coach Elliot Steinmetz on JM in the AM

JM in the am on a Tuesday morning broadcast. Many of you are aware of the fact that tonight was supposed to be the very very first game in the Skyline Conference Championship round or Skyline Conference playoffs for men's basketball. Uh it was postponed until tomorrow. We have the coach of the US University Makabes with us live via telephone. They are 16 and0 in the conference. And with that, we say welcome and masletov to Elliot Stein who's with us this morning here at JMA. Elliott, welcome back to the show. >> Thanks Mol. Always good to be on. >> 16 and0 I assume and undefeated in general has got to be unprecedented, right? >> Um and not unprecedented, but it's definitely uh definitely definitely a good accomplishment. Um we actually went undefeated in the conference. Um I think it was 201920 year. uh the year the year the year where we got cut off during co uh that team was actually undefeated in conference as well through the playoffs. >> Wow. I should be ashamed of myself for not remembering that. Well, this team matched that and they are now 16-0 and opening to tomorrow in the playoffs. Um what is it about Farmingdale? They were 15-1. They seem to always be one of the perennial favorites in the conference. Just like people ask, I'm sure outside of Yeshiva, why is it that they're always near the top? What's with Farmingdale if they're able to do this year after year? >> Um, they've put themselves in a really good spot. Number one, they're they're very well coached and number two, they've been able to really bring in good players year after year and and compete. They play they play really hard and then they play really smart. Um, so, you know, it's been a lot of back and forth the last number of years. Obviously, I think I'm pretty sure the last eight years it's either been Yoshiva or Farming that has won the conference and and I'm pretty sure it's an even 4-4. >> Wow. Pretty amazing. Elliot Ste with us. It would be incredible if he had an opportunity to break that tie and come out on the winning side. But you're very hesitant as many of the responsible coaches in this country are to look ahead. So, I don't even know if you want to talk about the possibilities of what might be happening if tomorrow uh brings victory. But tell me about tomorrow's game. against Old Westberry. I know that, you know, when you're 16 and0 and and you have, you know, some amazing players and you've done so well, especially in the conference this year, I'm sure you as a coach are worried about a team walking into a game like this overconfident and I'm wondering what you're doing to prepare them specifically for that. obviously preparing all the X's and O's and getting ready for the game tomorrow, but how do you convince them that they better be on their guard because every game is going to be tough at this point? >> Yeah, I mean it's it's not always easy. It happens to be, you know, the the team that we're playing West played us very very tough during the uh during the regular season. So, it's a little easier because all we got to do is watch film and and look back at that game and and realize that that game really could have gone, you know, a different way. Um, I think, you know, 16 and0 is a nice record. It's not like we've been blowing out a lot of teams. We we, you know, we've had our share of of wide margin victories, but we've also had our share of games that have been very very close. So, you know, we we we recognize that the, you know, the the margin for error is very, very small. And, you know, we're not it's not like we're sitting here uh thinking that just cuz just just cuz our record looks so good that we're so good. We we we I think hope hopefully our guys recognize the the hard work and and and discipline and and um you know chemistry that's kind of gone into the ability to win some of these close games and you know they have to recognize that that's what'll get them through the playoff games as well. What is it like to have what seems to us as fans, as spectators, as observers every year? It seems you have some mammoth superstar who dominates the conference, not just the dominates the games, but really dominates the conference and wins all the awards and sets all these scoring records and obviously Zevy Sammit is the one this season. I mean, what's it like for you when every year it seems you have another, you know, ultra superstar who, you know, surpasses everybody else on the team? Um, I think it's a function honestly of of the group of players that that we generally have. And, you know, it's always great to have a guy who's, you know, more talented or or has has this, you know, some superior skills. Um, but without guys around him who can, you know, exploit that and and and and supplement it and complement it, it's uh it's very very difficult, you know. So, you know, you have a guy like Zebie who's super talented obviously and has the ability to score the basketball in a lot of ways. And then you put around him guys like Max Zachim who's, you know, a great leader and knows how to get Zebie the ball and knows how to, you know, take pressure off of Zebie by scoring. Guys like Yah Dogat who, you know, is just a fantastic passer who makes guys better. and you know, Yoab inside and then, you know, Doan and Roy and just, you know, the whole group of guys that we have that takes so much pressure off of off of somebody like Zebie who is the focus of of everybody's scout and, you know, it allows him to kind of really shine in a lot of situations. >> We'll talk about the Torah angle in a minute. I can never let you go before talking about it. But what about his work ethic on the on the court? I mean, Zevy Sammit, we see the highlights. We watch the games. A lot of kids and obviously adults as well are big fans of his. I would imagine you see him putting in hours and hours and hours between games uh to perfect his shot and to perfect his skills. How hard of a worker is he? >> Yeah, he's he's um he's an everyday guy. There's no doubt. He's he's in the gym every day. Um you know, working on the shot, working on his footwork, uh trying to find ways to get better. Um, you know, it's you really have to anything in life is like that, right? Anything in life that you want to be good at, you have to put the hours in and and Debbie certainly has on and off the court. And how have the fans responded to him in the past? You've had, especially among the youngsters, among the kids that come to the games. You, you know, you've seen people crowd around your superstars and look for autographs, etc., and selfies these days and all of that. How has the, uh, next generation responded to his stardom? Um, I think similar to to what we've seen in the past, I think it's a little, you know, it's it's interesting. It's, you know, he's definitely popular and there's a lot of kids that come, but we, you know, we've seen it with a lot of our guys. It's interesting to see these, you know, kids come to the game and they really know all the players and they, you know, they're they're looking for autographs and pictures from from all the guys and, you know, Zavi obviously is the is the centerpiece in that regard. But it's uh it's it's a pretty cool and and humbling thing to see that there's so many, you know, Jewish kids out there coming to games who who are not just at the games because they're at a single game, but they're actually following and watching games online and and, you know, paying attention to what's going on in the season. >> Yeah, it's amazing. there. Some kids are really invested in this. It's really wonderful. You know, when I when I was a kid, I thought I was the only one my age invested in YU basketball, but these days, you have a tremendous following. Thank God. Elliot Simons is with us, coach of the University men's basketball team, the Mcabes. They go to battle tomorrow in game one of the Skyline Championship. Please God, they'll win tomorrow and then move on to Friday. And if that happens, the championship round for the Skyline is going to be happening on Sunday. And who knows, it might just be up at the Max Athletic Center, which I think would be that would be for the first time. But again, I won't discuss it with Elliot because we're not going to make him look ahead that far. So now on the Torah angle, Elliot, and the the look, I mean, you and I always talk about this. Every conversation we have in some way involves the community and the representation on the court, etc. But through because of all the social media and all the videos and, you know, we're invited into your locker room these days as opposed to years ago when nobody would have a clue what's going on. You know, we we see dra Torah and we see inspiring speeches based on Torah given by players. Uh Zevy obviously has had a profound impact on this, but it also seems like there's I don't know minion challenges and Jewish challenges. Always seems to be, you know, something going on um from the Jewish angle, way beyond uh all of the basketball stuff. And I'm wondering if if you are responsible for this, what your impression is of it, and what it does for the team. So, I mean, I'm definitely not responsible for it. I, you know, I'm I'm a lucky uh I'm a lucky participant and follower, but I, you know, I feel like, um, our strength as a people has always been through our uniqueness. Um, you know, we're different. We'll always be different. And um you know I think we have had over the years and and Debbie exemplifies it more than most, but we've had over the years guys who really embraced that and and have used it and used the platform that they've had to kind of you know continue to promote that. And you know what Debbiey's done with his with his uh you know with his platform and and now you know that he's finally gotten convinced to be on social media and and used it in that way is a tremendous amount of you know Kira and and an ability to kind of spread you know real real light to the world in terms of you know Jews and and and obviously Jewish basketball. Um and he's kind of shifted it over into into other charitable um into other charitable functions as well. So it's just it's very very special. I really um I'm proud of him for it. I think it's amazing, but it's it's something that he's really uh created over the last few years. >> So, before tomorrow night's game, there'll be some type of focus on Torah without a doubt. >> Yeah. In the locker rooms, there's always uh we've had that and that's been going on for for many years now. That actually started with Daniel Tamur. Daniel Tamir was uh was was a a a non-observant uh kid who came over from Israel. Actually ineligible to play because he was a professional player in Israel. Came over to go to school as an assistant coach. uh got religious at YU um and started um I would say probably eight years ago or so or eight eight or nine years ago whatever it is started pregame you know little muster moves in the locker room that started off as Don Perry and it's it's turned into you know in every every game a pregame tour in the locker room from somebody >> unbelievable does the NCAA check with you during the off season so that you can make sure that the playoffs don't coincide with porim and things like that. >> So the well I mean our playoffs with Skyline are generally earlier so that's not an issue in terms of the NCA tournament. No, it's more of a function that we we don't have to worry with uh with you know Friday night and Shabas. It used to be the games were on Friday night and Shabas afternoon. Um you know when when we're in it obviously becomes Friday afternoon and and Saturday night. Uh we've actually had a year where we were we were at a tournament for PM and we had to do for you know I think PM was on a Thursday. were playing on a Friday. We did come through the uh Thursday in hotel in in middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. >> Pretty amazing, I'll tell you. You really have a unique job to say the least. Uh wishing you the best of luck tomorrow and obviously throughout the entire tournament throughout the entire playoffs. Uh the university men's basketball team, in my opinion, as you know, uh continues to make all of us proud around the world. We are all YU basketball fans and please send our best to the players and good luck tomorrow night. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it and looking forward to seeing you soon. >> Elliot Styz, everybody. There he is. Coach of the Achieve University men's basketball team tomorrow night back athletic center. They go to battle in round one against Old Westbury of the Skyline Conference playoffs. And if they continue to go throughout the entire uh throughout this week with game two on Friday, then they'll be in the championship. Please God this coming Sunday. And who knows, maybe that championship will be I assume so, right? I assume the championship has to be up at the University men's basketball uh Max Stern Athletic Center. I assume if if YU's in it, I'm assuming it has to be there. They've got to be the number one seed in the conference. But again, I hesitate to speak to a coach about a game that could be happening, you know, two, three games from now. I hesitate to bring that up with Elliot. Anyway, there you go. Go get them, McBaes. Go get them. More coming up. You're listening to a Tuesday morning broadcast right here at JM in the AM.