1 in the Israeli national team are satisfied with the ability displayed by the players in the loss last night (Tuesday) 89:78 to the strong Serbia, especially on the defensive side.
"The players responded after the loss to Poland and provided a good performance."
Now all the preparations are focused on the important game on Thursday (18:30) against the Czech Republic.
If Israel wins, it will qualify for the round of 16 and continue to Berlin on Friday.
In the event of a loss, the calculations begin: if Finland beats the Netherlands in the early game, Israel will be eliminated in the event of a loss.
But if the Netherlands, which has already lost any chance of advancing to the next stage, surprises, a loss of up to 5 points will be enough for Israel.
"We will come to war on Thursday", promised Guy Goodes.
"It's a game that's like a cup final, there's no way back from it. We'll be playing against a home team whose crowd will be on their side, so I estimate the chances at 40:60 for them, but we have players who have been in those positions and I trust them to do the job."
Abadiah against Serbia.
Cup final on Thursday, photo: FIBA
2 The outstanding bright spot in the Israeli team is the great ability of Yam Madar for the third game in a row.
Pay attention to the numbers of the talented guard: first in the team in 3-point percentage (55.6%), first in 2-point percentage (61.5%), second in points (12.8) and second in the index (12.8).
In addition, only Gal Mackel has a higher plus-minus index (an index that checks the team's result in the player's minutes on the floor).
"Yim gave a great performance here against the best guards in Europe," said enthusiastically one of the Serbian journalists who knows the player from Partizan Belgrade well.
Not many know that the talented guard has distinct Serbian roots - his grandmother on his mother's side is Serbian.
As we say, everything stays in the family.
Jokic (in blue).
He was great over Israel, photo: AFP
The player himself sounded satisfied at the end of the game when he referred to the team's ability.
As I remember, after the loss to Poland he did not hide his thoughts on the team's performance, especially on the defensive side, yesterday he already sounded completely different.
"We fought and played with pride. We didn't let them do what they wanted, I'm proud of my friends. We came to the field to beat them. Serbia is a very talented team and every time someone else stepped up there and did us damage. It's hard to stop it."
Madar also commented on the fight against Nikola Jokic's tremendous performance: "It's very difficult against him, he does what he wants. We tried to make it difficult for him, and it didn't exactly work. I'm proud of the guys who were in the game and fought until the end. We represent the team, everyone supports We built and we will do everything to make them happy. The game against the Czech Republic is make or break for us and we will come with this attitude."
Blat and Avdia against Serbia.
just almost
3 Even before the opening whistle against Serbia, Guy Goodes met Nano Ginzburg, coach of the Czech national team, in the corridors of the O2 Arena.
The Israeli coach of the Czechs had hoped to beat Finland and thereby both get significantly closer to qualifying for the round of 16 and also guarantee Israel the ticket to the next stage already yesterday, but he was not up to the task.
Sorkin vs. Jokic.
Both impressed, photo: FIBA
"I tried, but I didn't succeed," he said in disappointment to the national team coach.
Even before that, he admitted that Thursday's game will be emotional for him, but he is sure that both teams will be busy getting the precious victory regardless of the surrounding picaresque.
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