Kiryat the young men
When Oded Ketch was appointed coach of the Israeli national team in 2017 after the failure in the European Championship held in Tel Aviv, he was presented with three goals: advancing to the World Championship, advancing to the European Championship, and rejuvenating the team.
We did not go to the World Championship, the European Championship was not held because of the Corona, but the process of rejuvenating the national team was strong and fully realized.
His result is felt today by Guy Goodes, Ketch's successor in the national team, whose main burden in the next two weeks is the need to decide on a final roster of 12 players from a large pool of talent, whose roots are rooted in the excellent work with the young national teams in the last decade (the cadets beat Serbia!), whose growth Excellent players who entered the empty cartridge left by the retirees of that youth policy.
And the most prominent ones are Sussman, Blatt, Avdia and Madar, who led the last reserve teams and naturally assumed the role of leaders of the senior team.
Goods.
He has someone to trust, photo: Alan Shiver
A stranger will not understand this
The variety available to Goodes, along with the successes of the young teams last summer, correspond with the issue of the number of foreigners in the league.
I still think that the number of foreigners in the league is excessive, and that the main reason for this is the tax relief that makes the foreigners more financially viable than the Israelis.
But when you hear Guy Goodes explain that the removals will be a difficult and cruel decision, and you see the social exchanges even against the weak Romania, you wonder if the match against the foreigners improves our senior players, and prepares and forges them for the next level.
Still, the second and third tier players have no place to gain experience, except in the national league or in minor leagues in Europe.
And the truth is that most first-tier players today prefer to go to Europe and not play in the local league, because of this reason.
Four of the players of the apparent first five (Abadiah, Medar, Blatt, and Susman) will play this year already for a second season outside the local league, and others are now leaving (Chachashvili) or have returned (Manko, Ginat, Mekel).
So no, the large number of foreigners is not good, not for the league, nor for the national team.
Be Like Jake
The most prominent element in the team's training games so far is the joy of the game and the pleasure of playing together, sharing the ball and cheering, and the fact that the vast majority of field goals come from assists.
And the player who symbolizes this attitude is Jake Cohen, who moves me every time in the national uniform.
A model of basketball, talking, connecting, flattering, moving without a ball to make the friends have better morals.
He always sacrificed everything for the team, and I always remember the night he played in the Maccabi uniform in Istanbul, landed in Israel early in the morning, drank coffee and ran to play with the team on Friday afternoon.
How much character and class.
replicate and teach.
Jake Cohen.
Class with zero effort, photo: Alan Shiver
the decision
Goodes explains that the decision will ultimately boil down to the strategy of an additional tall or an additional guard.
It should be remembered that there is another window of games in the World Championship qualifiers already next weekend, in which the approach of the professional team will be decided.
But beyond that, there are some qualities that are important for every national team player to justify his place in the squad.
First of all, individual defense - the ability to block penetration with the legs without help.
For example, Tamir Blat established his place in the squad not only because of the assists, but a lot thanks to the amazing improvement in protecting the ball and the agility of his feet.
Second - accurate shooting - we don't have the luxury of missing open shots, because in the championship we won't get as many open positions as we did against Georgia and Romania.
That's why it seems to me that John Dee will be in the squad, thanks to the two aforementioned elements that are strong in him.
And in addition - the ability to play several positions and maintain several positions.
Yam Medar shows this summer that he knows how to play both guard positions, an advantage and flexibility that is important for the team.
Goodes has difficulties in choosing the 11th and 12th player, but it seems that the first ten is already clear to him.
The dinosaurs
Goodes has experience in European championships as a player, and the experience of coaching Hapoel Holon in the Champions League also taught him a lot, even beyond the years of coaching Maccabi Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
And the one who accompanied him on this journey and got him through the obstacle many times is the old actor Guy Panini, who looks like an ageless Benjamin Button, and his experience has a special value that cannot be measured in numbers.
Clutch decisions, critical passes, decisive threes.
Instead of taking more of the same, Goodes knows he has something unique here that he will need in the tough games.
Lagal also has tremendous experience and leadership that will be more important than an assist or penetration.
As long as they are fit to play, they have a unique and essential added value and I would be the first to lock them up in a hotel room in Prague.
But overall, Goodes has good trouble.
and high hopes.
Stick.
Leadership that is more important than an assist or penetration, photo: Alan Shiver
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