The difficult feelings that surrounded the Israeli national team at the end of the European Championship about two months ago, gave hope that the change that seemed necessary then - will come soon.
The hope was that everyone involved in the national team, from the senior officials of the basketball association to the last of the players, would learn from the unpleasant experience and the team would embark on a new path.
The public criticism and the bad spirits that accompanied the return of the players from Prague calmed down over time, and like everything in life faded on the way to the next agenda that will be dictated by the world of sports.
The roster of players with whom the Israeli national team will play against the Slovenian national team at Shlomo Group Hall on Friday may look a little different, but the situation behind the scenes is worrying and gives the feeling that not much has been done in the two months that have passed since the Eurobasket disappointment.
Goods.
Remains on the lines, meanwhile, photo: AP
Coach Guy Goodes, received fire from all directions and arrives at the current window after hearing the voices that demand his replacement.
He understands that his contract with the union will not be extended when it ends in a few months, and according to sources privy to the details, he seems very 'off'.
Goodes gave Motti Daniel, the manager of the national team, a list of players, detailing which of them wanted to come and be part of the squad, and against whom he thought was not interested.
According to the information we have, the coach himself did not call to convince or talk to any of the players.
John DiBartholomew, for example, the national coach wanted to see in the squad, but the player did not want to come and made sure to convey the message through his people to the basketball association.
The citizen, whose saga of leaving just before leaving for the European Championship kept everyone busy, chose not to come forward - and the union members did not fight the decision or make an effort to change it.
John DiBartholmeow.
He said no thanks, photo: Danny Maron
Still without a naturalized citizen
The issue of naturalized people was central to the conversation surrounding the national team before the departure for the last campaign, and especially after it.
While the lions of the continent and among them Spain, a country with fine raw material, chose to naturalize the Maccabi Tel Aviv coordinator Lorenzo Brown in a controversial procedure - but one that brought them the title of European champion, in Israel they chose this time also not to act to naturalize a player and appear in the window of the World Championship qualifiers without reinforcement.
The Slovenian national team, European champions in 2017, chose to add a citizen to its ranks and added the experienced forward Jordan Morgan, apparently one of the senior players of the squad who will appear later this week on the floor in Tel Aviv.
On the other hand, Max Heidegger, a real option for reinforcement and someone who was previously brought as a citizen was not added to the squad, and according to sources around the national team he was not approached nor was there any effort to add him on behalf of anyone.
The guard records wonderful numbers in the Turkish Markazfendi uniform, with an average of 17.4 points, 6.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game.
Heidegger.
They didn't talk to him, photo: Alan Shiver
In recent weeks, the national team said goodbye to Guy Panini, its senior symbols and those who wore the national uniform for the past 20 years.
Sources privy to the details say that the veteran player waited for the announcement of the end of his career in the national team before announcing his retirement, and only received it from Moti Daniel.
Jake Cohen, who has contributed a lot to the team over the past few years, also understood from the team manager that he would not be invited this time.
The atmosphere surrounding the team, the one that emanated from the dressing rooms in Prague and received expression and approval in the voice of Pini Gershon, influenced quite a few players: Tamir Blatt and Yuval Sussman, who made great efforts to reach the previous windows, did not fight this time for the opportunity to represent Israel.
On top of that, the senior officials of the union also chose to distance themselves: Amos Frishman, the chairman of the professional committee, had to leave for personal reasons, while Gershon chose, as he defined it, to concentrate on the youth teams, which are his main occupation.
Finally, the question should be asked: if the union officials decided not to renew Goodes' contract, and even considered firing him at the end of the Eurobasket - why wasn't the current window used for a transition period and overlap with the new coach?
Couldn't Oren Aharoni, for example, employed by the union in the reserve team, get the keys and start the process?
Ginat and Cohen are broken.
Will we see other photos this time?, Photo: Reuters
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us