For the first time since the European Championship ended with a bitter taste, the Israeli national team gathered this evening (Monday) for the first practice ahead of the pair of games against Slovenia and Sweden as part of the qualifiers for the World Championship to be held next year.
The coach of the Israeli national team, Guy Goodes, spoke before the opening of the window: "We have a new squad that joins a number of players who were with us in the European Championship.
I congratulate the players who were invited to the national team for the first time.'
"Just getting to the national team is important for the players.
We are now entering the playoffs of the window and we have no room for mistakes, we need to win.
We will come and give our all as usual and we will do everything to beat Sweden and Slovenia.
There was no problem in the dressing room between the national team players, our company likes to be together and are happy to be together.'
Goodes and Ginat at the press conference, photo: Alan Shiver
The captain of the Israeli national team, Tomer Ginat, shared his feelings: "Very exciting, this is a tremendous privilege, perhaps the greatest in Israeli basketball.
I have always said that every player who plays for the Israeli national team is a dream come true, so being captain is even more exciting.
There is a lot of work ahead of us.'
a garden
"A big right", photo: Alan Shiver
"I didn't have time to talk to Gal Mekel, I talked to him after he retired and told him thank you for all the time we spent together.
During my career I was alongside significant captains such as Matan Naor, Lemond, Mekel, Panini, Bar.
You learn a lot from everyone.
We need to take these things and implement them and I hope we will do it in the best way.
We all understand that what happened this summer sucks and is a waste for us.
We need to put the past summer behind us and concentrate on the two important games ahead.
We still have a chance to qualify for the World Championship.
The Israeli national team is something bigger than all of us and we will have to do everything," he concluded.
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