The Israeli team will advance tomorrow (Friday) to its penultimate game in the European Championship qualifiers with a perfect balance of 0: 4 and with the ticket to the championship to be held next summer. The opponent, on the other hand, Romania, is the weakest team at home, and is in the opposite balance of 4: 0.
The Romanians lost their four games and lost a chance to advance to the championship. If they started the campaign with reasonable losses by 13 points to Spain and 16 to Israel, last February, then in the Valencia bubble, where they were most of the time in strict isolation, they suffered defeats by 30 points to Poland and 53 to Spain.
Oded Katash’s team arrives with a missing squad. Gal Makal is recovering, Idan Zalmanson remains in Israel and so do Nimrod Levy and Golan Gut who were part of the previous bubble here. But this is an opportunity for others to get minutes. Noam Dovrat, Israel’s future players, will make his debut and also Spencer Weiss who looks great.
Yiftach Ziv and Yam Madar will help Tamir Blatt manage the game and our team has a lot of experience and character with players like Tomer Ginat, Rafi Manko, Jake Cohen and of course Guy Pnini. Adam Ariel, who missed the previous window, returns to the squad with good shooting ability and Ben Carter will continue to receive minutes. Roman Sorkin, who received a few minutes in Valencia, is expected to play in this bubble in position 5 as well because of Zalmanson’s lack.
Katsch He said ahead of the game: “Although we have to continue the process we are doing, we are in a slightly lacking staff that a wave that is an anchor for us is not found but we have talented young people that I very much trust. We want to continue to win. “A young and talented team, in two years they will be stronger. They should always be respected, they lack a dominant player but it will give their youngsters a chance to prove themselves.”
Katsch said of Noam Dovrat: “He will have many more good years on the team, from the little I got to coach him he does not feel like 18 years old, his maturity and understanding and also the way he plays basketball is a mature way.”
