Euro Hoops: Another double-digit stinker on the road

While men are humiliated, Israeli women defeat Great Britain to advance to EuroBasket 2009.

By ALLON SINAI
israeli basketball 224.88 ap (photo credit: AP)
israeli basketball 224.88 ap
(photo credit: AP)
Israel continued to embarrass itself in EuroBasket 2009 qualification on Saturday night, losing 96-86 to Great Britain in Liverpool. Just three days after suffering a 21-point humbling at the hands of the Czech Republic, Tzvika Sherf's men were humiliated once more in England and are looking nothing like a team capable of reaching the European Championships. The national team, which lost its three road qualifiers by an average 12.3 points, will face Bosnia and the Czech Republic at the Nokia Arena on Wednesday and Saturday respectively and will need to win both games by significant margins to have any chance of advancing to a ninth consecutive EuroBasket tournament. Lior Eliyahu scored 24 points for Israel, with Guy Pnini and Omri Casspi adding 13 and 10 points respectively in a game the Israel players will quickly want to forget. Pops Mensah-Bonsu dunked at will and scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the hosts, with Luol Deng adding 20 points for the Brits, who scored 65 percent from two-point range, making the most of Israel's lackluster defending. There was at least also some good news for Israeli basketball on Saturday after Israel's women's team defeated Great Britain 75-69 in Ramat Gan to win Group A and progress to EuroBasket 2009. Shay Doron scored 28 points and grabbed five rebounds for Eli Rabi's team, with Liron Cohen the only other player in double-figures, scoring 12 points. "The entire team deserves credit. We won this game thanks to our character," Doron said. "We played in a difficult group and it's a great honor for Israel that we managed to win it." After a tight contest, the score was tied at 65-65 with two-and-a-half minutes to play, but a Doron basket from beyond the arc followed by Meirav Dori's three point move gave the hosts an unassailable lead and sparked the celebrations in the Zisman Arena. In Liverpool, both teams lacked composure at the start of the game and it took Deng almost two minutes to score his and Britain's first points of the night to give the side an early 3-2 lead. Meir Tapiro's playmaking skills soon after gave Israel the lead and his assist to Yaniv Green opened a promising 9-5 margin. Israel failed, however, to build on its good start and the hosts soon seized control of the encounter. Four straight points by Nate Reinking regained GB's lead and a Jarrett Hart three-pointer opened an 18-13 advantage. Israel cut the deficit to three points by the end of the first period (22-19) and a Moran Rot three tied the score at 24-24 at the start of the second quarter. The national team's run would prove, however, to be no more than an aberration as the Brits went on to dominate the game and all but clinched the win by the interval. An 8-0 run, which was capped by Pops Mensah-Bonsu's basket, gave the side a 34-26 advantage and the hapless Israel was down 53-40 at the break. An offensive foul at the start of the second half was a sign of things to come for the blue-and-white as Britain piled the misery on the visitors. Israel's defensive play was a disgrace and the hosts dunked their way to a 76-54 lead with 10 minutes to play. The team showed that is does have some pride in the closing minutes of the game and a late run reduced the final margin of defeat. This could prove crucial if the side manages to win its final two qualifiers at home, which at the moment seems like a very big if.