The coordinator of the Israeli basketball team is proud of the achievement of the EuroBasket qualifiers • The union is in no hurry to say goodbye to coach Oded Katash
Yiftach Ziv vs. Jaime Fernandez.
Dreaming of a rare achievement in Eurobasket
Photo:
FIBA website
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The Israeli team finished an impressive campaign yesterday (Sunday) and did not allow a 78:73 loss to Spain to hurt with joy and pride the results achieved along the way and led to the promotion to the European Championship from first place at home with a 1: 5 balance.
"It was a great campaign, we made a good journey and qualified from the first place, so we are happy," concluded Yiftach Ziv. "We gained experience and I hope that at the European Championships we achieved something that the country did not have for a long time."
Personally, the Athletic Guard added: "It is a pleasure to be part of the national team. I am sure that everyone who is invited will give 100%. I am happy to play for the team, I know the players for years, and being in this bubble and opening in the top five is a big thing for me That I returned. "
"We did an amazing qualifying campaign," added Adam Ariel who scored some big threes during the comeback in the third quarter, "We have a bright future and I am proud to be part of this team."
Tomer Ginat added: "It is another early stage to know what will happen in the European Championship because we do not know what squad we will be in. We have a young team with a lot of faith in itself and we will work hard to achieve good results."
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Coach Oded Katash will end his contract with the team in the summer, but hinted after the game that it has not yet been finally decided not to continue.
The association is in no hurry to appoint a new coach as the team's next games will only be in November, in the World Cup qualifiers.
Pini Gershon, the professional director of the Israeli national teams, who sits on FIBA committees, has pushed over the past year to make peace between FIBA and the Euroleague in order to resolve the conflict between the national team games and the Euroleague games.
He recently said that there was a rapprochement between the parties, but at the last minute everyone remained fortified in their positions.
Katsch. Will lead the team in Eurobasket? // Photo: FIBA website
It is estimated that the union will wait a few more months to see if Katsch does continue at Panathinaikos next season and will not be able to coach the team in the next campaign.
If the cards work out and Katsch can continue in his role, the tendency will be to extend his contract for another season and keep him until after the European Championships.
As we wrote last night, if Katsch does not continue, Ariel Beit Halachmi and Guy Goodes are the two leading candidates for the position of national coach.
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The team will land in Israel in the afternoon, but Oded Katash (Greece), Jake Cohen (will board the flight of the Spanish team), Tomer Ginat and Rafi Manco (France) will return directly to their European teams.