Hapoel Tel Aviv was the big story of Israeli basketball last summer.
The Reds returned to their ranks Tomer Ginat from France, returned to play in Europe after a long absence, sold all the subscriptions and created an unusual interest around the club.
The one who will be at the head of the system and will have to steer the ship is coach Danny Franco.
At the age of 48, and just before he opens a European season in his 17th year on the lines as a head coach, he feels comfortable sitting down and talking about everything, like you've never heard him before.
In an exclusive and candid interview with "Israel Hayom", the coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv talks about the less glamorous sides of the profession, the effects on the home and family, the pressure, the dreams, the expectations and the difficulties, but also about the bacteria and the never-ending love for the game.
Moshe ben Simhon
Danny, this week you opened the season with a victory in the league, today you open a European season. how are the feelings
"First of all, it's exciting. We're after a first game that everyone was really looking forward to and waiting for, and we're ready to move on. As I told the players, this is one step in a long journey and we're ready."
You built this year as a team for two frames, how do you summarize the summer?
"Overall, we had a good summer, mainly because we were able to respond quickly to situations that were forced upon us, such as injuries that caused players to be absent from the season itself, to keep quite a few players from last season and to add a number of key players."
Looking back, are there things you would have done differently in building the team?
"It might have been right for Hapoel Tel Aviv to behave a little differently in the way the team was built, but in life there is what is written in the book and there is reality. When you coach Hapoel Tel Aviv, you need to know how to distinguish between the book and reality."
Franco.
Perhaps things could have been done differently in building the squad, photo: Udi Tsitiat
As part of the adjustments you made, this summer they signed Jaylen Hurd and Jordan McCray as a response to injuries and shortages in the team. How do players of their level get to Israel?
"Jaylan's case is very interesting, it's a good question. He holds French citizenship and I think he could easily find a team in a good European framework. I think his agent gave a lot of weight to his familiarity with me as a coach and the Israeli league and put his trust in us. Jordan's case is an exploitation of a situation, this is a player we followed in the summer, he really wanted to come. It was a very easy and very short negotiation."
Franco started his career as a coach of youth teams in Hapoel Tel Aviv and coached many teams.
He led Hapoel Jerusalem to a historic and first championship in its history in 2015, and Hapoel Holon to the first cup in its history (2009).
Franco.
Won the championship with Jerusalem, photo: Audi Tsitiat
This summer you brought back Tomer Ginat to the club as the shining signing of the summer, how did you react when you realized that it was final and he was signing?
"I was happy. The talks about Tomer were at a very early stage, things looked promising, slowly got complicated and in the end ended very well."
The team will start its European season tonight as part of the Eurocup, how do you feel about it?
"It is always good and challenging to play more games during the season, the games in the Eurocup are at a very high quality level and I am sure that this is an enterprise that can lift Hapoel Tel Aviv to another stage in its development as a club."
This year there is excitement and a special feeling surrounding the club, how do you explain it?
"I feel that last season we were able to create anticipation and excitement that the audience lacked. The audience really connected with the players in the team and this is also noticeable in the fact that the subscribers voted with their feet."
There are very high expectations from the team this year, the word title is heard for the first time in years. How do you deal with the pressure?
"Players by nature really want to win. Expectations and ambitions are something that always exists in a club like Hapoel Tel Aviv."
For me as a coach it is very important to work in a club that strives and expects, it is terribly boring and depressing to work in a place where there are no expectations.
When everyone has a great desire to succeed, and I have a good and dedicated team working with me, there is more chance of success.
Personally, I always want to win, it was no different even when I coached in Afula or Netanya."
What are your goals for the coming season?
"To return Hapoel Tel Aviv to the top of Israeli basketball, a place it has not been in recent years."
Danny Franco.
I was happy about Ginat's return, photo: Udi Tsitiat
"My wife calls it manic depression house"
Tell us a little bit personally about life behind the scenes as a basketball coach, how does it feel?
"It's a job that goes home with you 24/7 and requires you to be committed to it all the time. You take the job home with you, the emotions, the stress and the sadness, the frustration and the pleasure. It's not easy, being a coach is a bit forced work. Fortunately, I have a supportive family And help, it's not easy to live in a house with a basketball coach. It's very difficult to disconnect the day-to-day from life itself. My wife calls it a house of manic depression."
What is the biggest difficulty this thing causes you off the court?
"It requires trying to keep the time balanced and sane. It's a job that has no Saturdays or holidays, the house becomes enslaved to it. There are many coaches' homes that fall apart because of basketball, I set myself the goal of finding an order of priorities and prioritizing the home above all else."
Franco.
Choose a profession that is not easy, photo: Audi Citiat
Why does a person voluntarily enter such a world?
"It's a bacteria and you can't live without it. I'm in a place I like very much. I won't lie, I've had quite a few times where I've sat and thought to myself why do I even need it. One day it will change, I won't stay forever on the lines. There are other good things In basketball I think I can do, beyond training, but we'll leave that for a later stage."
Do you feel appreciated as a coach today?
"I'm not looking for it. I'm happy where I am today in my life. I'm not one to chase dreams, I'm very happy that they come true - but I think I'm in a more supervised place today. The word valued in Israeli sports is very volatile, I've lost my expectation Mine in everything to do with appreciation in sports."
Danny Franco.
Not expecting anything, photo: Audi Citiat
Do you have dreams for the future that you have not yet fulfilled and you want to realize?
"Everyone wants to progress and develop, every coach wants to coach at the highest levels. These are not things I'm obsessed with, it doesn't affect me."
Finally, looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?
"I don't understand at all how I was dragged into becoming a basketball coach. I was young, we were on Usishkin's highlights outside and good things happened, then we went inside the hall and good things happened."
Danny Franco.
opens an important season,
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