Dan Shamir, 46, has been a basketball coach since the age of 17. He started coaching in the youth department of Hapoel Jerusalem, and then moved to the senior team and was appointed head coach.
He later worked alongside the continent's senior coaches - Ettore Messina, Pini Gershon and David Blatt, and also served as assistant coach of the Israel national team and head coach of other teams such as Hapoel Holon and Bnei Herzliya.
Won three state cups and was also named coach of the season in the league in 2017/18.
The game on Saturday that will open his third season as coach of the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian League he will miss after contracting the corona virus, and we will of course wish him good health.
The one who will replace the lines will be his Israeli assistant Modi Maor.
The two recently signed a new contract at the club until 2024.
"I feel much better now," he says on first reference to Corona attacking him.
"It was not easy. Nine days of high fever, and on the tenth day slowly began to improve. Now it is much much better, and next week I will return to the artist."
Tell a little about the development of the Australian League in recent years.
"For several years now there has been a boom in the league. The exposure has increased, the sums of money have increased significantly, the profile of the players has changed, players come with Euroleague experience, NBA players, first round selections and many talented players from all over the world. "Stars, in which players are brought to the league who are expected to be selected in high places in the draft and reach the NBA later, and the teams will receive money for them. The result is that the NBA teams are constantly following the league, and the players know that and want to get here."
And professionally, is the Australian League better than the Israeli League?
"It's hard to compare, because teams do not play against each other. In general the best teams in Europe were also the best teams here, much because of the amount of foreigners, but in general the level here is very good, and there are many good players. Usually if a team from Israel and a team from Australia "They will compete for the same player, he will come to Australia."
Would you also recommend Israeli players to come to Australia?
"In terms of exposure, it's certainly good for a young Israeli player who aims for the highest places to come and be part of the Next Stars program, but you have to check that the team gives you the opportunity and is willing to invest in you. The teams pay a price for it. ".
Which Israeli actor would you like to bring as part of the program and help him get far?
"The relevant Israeli names with the potential to be drafted, Yam Madar and Noam Dovrat, were on our radar, but of course it has to fit the team and also depends on the local players you have on the squad. This year we already have two players in this program, both French "), Which are marked as great potential and are supposed to be in the first 40-30 elections, one of which is even a lottery election."
In previous seasons you did not reach the high stages, this season you can reach the playoffs?
"It's a tough and very competitive league, only four go up to the playoffs and all the teams are very good. We hope we win and have a good season, but we also need luck with the Corona because last season six months out of seven and a half months we spent in Australia in a kind of traveling training camp. Home games and we traveled from hotel to hotel, and we did not have conditions suitable for a professional team, so that should be taken into account as well. We lived on the suitcases for about five and a half months, it was unrealistic. "That we will have better conditions this year. To lead a team only in away games and to wander endlessly is not a recipe for a winning team."
How do you and your family cope with the strict rules of the corona in New Zealand?
"We are at a stage where it is becoming difficult. The whole world is thrown into a different reality, but with us it is even more difficult. For two years we have not seen the family in the country and my wife's parents have not seen their grandchildren for a long time. Okay, but now everything's turned upside down. We're in closures and the kids are not going to school, we do not have a normal season, last year we were apart - I was in Australia for half a year with the team and the family stayed in New Zealand. We thought this year it changed, "But we are dealing with it. We hope the borders will be opened and it will be possible to move between New Zealand and Australia, and I will be able to see my wife and children."
And in general, how is the quality of life in New Zealand?
"Life in New Zealand is very good, but three months ago it went into closure like the first closure there was in the country. Everyone is at home, with no shops and nothing. Only in recent weeks are there any reliefs. It is impossible to leave Auckland. When it is open New Zealand is amazing "But when everything is closed, it's very difficult."
dill.
"Amazing Experience," Photo: Getty Images
You do not lack a little Israeli basketball?
"I will not tell you no, I miss it, especially in the long periods we were without basketball, because both last season was postponed and the opening of this season was postponed (the season should have started in October, YM).
Clearly missing.
Israel is my home, and the mentality in Australia is different.
It's a lot of fun to work here, but there's a lot of action in Israeli basketball.
But this is life, you always lack something. "
Have you had offers from Israel since you left?
"I've been on a contract all this time, so every time there was a phone call I said I was under a contract and there was nothing to talk about."
Are you not afraid that too long in Australia will cause "far from the eye far from the heart", and a little will forget you?
"You go into a coach's head. Occasionally I have such thoughts and there are these fears, but on the other hand I do not have much to grumble about. I am in a good place, but someday we will return to Israel, my family and I know it well. We will return to Israel for sure. "It could be next year and it could be in two years. In the meantime we're doing basketball, we have an amazing experience, but we know it will end someday."
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