Few remember the name of Daniel Sokolovsky who worked as a second assistant coach at Maccabi Rishon Lezion in the 2019/20 season, which ended with the arrival of the Oranges until the playoff finals.
Sokolowski, a member of a Jewish-American family who immigrated from the Soviet Union a few decades ago and now lives in Miami.
He is only 28 years old, but his resume is rich.
He played in Division 3 in colleges and immediately thereafter opened a coaching tenure.
He initially worked in several NBA stores in Las Vegas, then worked for two years as an assistant coach at Russian Pharma Perm in the VTB League, and even worked briefly in the Chinese League before joining Rishon LeZion.
Played in colleges, Photo: No credit
Last season he served as assistant coach to Kamnitz from the German league, and last season he first got the role of head coach when at a young age he led Lushnets from the Slovak league to win the cup and reach the playoff final.
"The difference between a head coach and an assistant is like black and white, it's hard to explain in words
," the young coach told Israel Today during his visit to Israel last week.
"Two different experiences because of the differences between the levels of responsibility and decision making. I was very lucky to be in this situation because the professional manager gave me a free hand from start to finish.
I built the staff and brought in the foreigners.
I tried to build a culture out of nothing, because it's a pretty new group without a lot of tradition or history.
Everyone is looking at you even though you are young and at first they asked, what are we going to do.
It was significant and we worked on basketball, management and human relations.
It was a special experience that I am sure will have a great impact on me for the rest of my career. "
"There is a huge difference between a head coach and an assistant," Photo: No credit
Tell us a little about your coaching philosophy.
"My important values are consistency, competitiveness, communication. It's important to me that we work on how things are done, what attitude you bring to the team, how consistent you are and how focused you are. As a coach you have to be someone the team can trust and lean on. A person everywhere and every profession. Competitiveness of course is very important to me and it is present in our training program. We build it in every exercise of ours because we want to build a competitive culture.
Every leader and every sports organization, or any workplace should be capable of good communication between people, because everything is based on good communication between people and building a good culture within the group.
These are the keys.
This season we were one of the smaller teams in the league, and we played fast and aggressively, with a high pace on defense and probably a lot of defensive methods.
I tried to give the players freedom and we wanted the opponent to feel us and our pace on both sides of the pitch from start to finish.
It has proven itself. "
What did you learn from the season with Guy Goodes in Rishon LeZion?
”It was of course a very interesting year painted in the colors of the corona.
We had a European season, some staff changes and I saw him face players every day.
How he talks to players, controls the system, teaches the promoter of the season until the end of the season.
From each coach I worked for I made notes for myself if I agreed or would have behaved differently and what I learned from him.
I think he took a lot from David Blatt.
I noticed something special about us, when we played against a big club, he made sure that the players knew not to bring wallets to the pitch.
He always tried to get underdog and come small and that suited our club that we were underdog.
"This mentality that no matter how much you earn, you put on shoes and go on the field and everyone is the same and competes, is something important that I learned from him."
Wants to return to Israel, Photo: No credit
You have worked in several leagues, what is particularly characteristic of the Israeli league?
"The Israeli league is characterized for better or worse by a very strong personality of American players on the field. It is also a very tactical league and many ways to interfere with rivals - match-up zone, traps, exchange defense. These are valuable things if you know how to use them and how Playing against it. This is something that is important to me as a coach. Undoubtedly also amazing fans. Small halls like Rishon and Ness Ziona that you feel the fans are really about. Teams like Hapoel Tel Aviv, Holon and Jerusalem have loud and active fans.
That atmosphere around the game stayed with me. "
Israeli basketball has a bright future
in his role in Rishon LeZion. Sokolovsky was responsible, among other things, for his personal work with the players. , Says the young coach. "He has size and understanding of the game, he is strong and full of skills.
Most importantly he has a strong desire for play and success.
This is something that every coach tries to convey to players that they do not always have.
He had some problems with the elbow injury, but I am full of hope and positive about him and believe he will go far in Israel and Europe.
I follow the talented young generation of Israeli basketball - Gabi Chachashvili has made progress, Yam Madar has gone through a season with a significant role in Partizan Belgrade which is a huge club.
There are small and talented pieces at young ages.
Of course Danny Abdia who is a significant player in Washington, Blatt and Sussman who are making nice strides in the Euroleague.
The future is bright. "
Won the Cup in Slovakia, Photo: No credit
Would you like to work in Israel in the coming years?
"Absolutely. The league in Israel is a strong and respectable league. Israel also has a quality of life and after a year in a small town in Slovakia, I try to find a balance between career and personal life and Israel will be a good place for that balance. I hope I have a chance as head coach or assistant coach "In a big team in the Premier League. I am examining options in other leagues as well, and I will wait for my opportunity."
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