Israel National Basketball Team begins prep for pair of qualifiers vs Germany, Croatia

The blue-and-white has already secured qualification for the second round as it is 2-2 in Group E, which also includes Cyprus, whom it defeated twice back in February and March. However, the pair of games are still important because the results from the first round will carry over to the next stage of play.

In addition, there are a number of other national team stalwarts who are injured and will not be part of the squad, which includes 15 players and will be pared down to 14 who will travel to the two qualifiers.

As camp began at Hadar Yosef in Tel Aviv, Beit Halachmi spoke about his upcoming challenges.

“We have gathered here for the final window of the first stage of the qualifiers. We’ve already advanced from our group, and we’re preparing for two very difficult games against strong national teams. We have a lot of absences for many reasons, there are injuries and NBA players who were not released by their clubs, but I want to focus on the players who are here. There’s nothing we can do about those who aren’t, and we’ll give our players the confidence they need.”

Benayahu Srur received his first call-up to the national team after a couple of seasons that had been full of injuries, but one area that the squad is lacking is size and physicality, which the big man can provide.

“Benayahu is one of our strongest big men physically, and we need that in this window because last time we struggled in that area. He was in excellent form but unfortunately suffered a serious injury. We’ll see him in the few practices we have and evaluate how much he can contribute during this window.”

Israel captain Tomer Ginat had a tough season and had been out injured for a while before returning for the Israeli league playoffs with Hapoel Tel Aviv, but it’s clear that the forward is nowhere near being 100% fit.

“From what we know, his situation is shaky,” Beit Halachmi explained. “You could see that in the way he was running and playing during the finals series. From his perspective, he’ll do everything he can to be available, and we all know Tomer’s commitment, but it seems he’s highly doubtful.”

The championship finals series between Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv has caused several players to miss the start of training camp, including not only Ginat but also Yam Madar, Guy Palatin, and Roman Sorkin. However, despite the absences, Beit Halachmi is content that the game of basketball is still being played due to the conflict that the country has had to endure with the war.

“With everything we’ve gone through over the past year, not only in basketball, the fact that we’re still playing is a miracle. But we can’t complain about it; we’ll deal with the situation. If the series doesn’t end on Sunday night, their arrival will be delayed by a few more days, but that’s the reality.”

Although Israel has already advanced to the next stage, the numerous absences, especially considering that Germany and Croatia are coming into the game with strong rosters, could hurt the team’s qualification chances for the World Cup as the first-round records carry over to the next.

“There are still many games left to play,” Beit Halachmi said. “You can’t say after this window that our chances have dropped significantly, but we need to try to collect wins. Even after this window, we have more games ahead, and a lot can happen.”

Beit Halachmi also went into a bit more detail about Israel’s NBA players – Avdija, Saraf and Danny Wolf – not being released to play in this window.

“The reasons they are not here are related to the players’ injuries, both in Brooklyn and Portland, and there’s not much we can do about that. We know that Deni and Ben came every time they were able to. I think there’s a pretty high chance we’ll see them in the next window, and I hope we’ll have them available in August.”

Raz Adam, who tragically passed away in a car accident last month, was an important part of this national team along with Beit Halachmi’s Under-20 squad, including the one that captured the 2019 European Championship.

“First of all, Raz was supposed to be here on the court with us. It’s a tremendous loss, first and foremost for his family, and  also for Israeli basketball as a whole.”