Israel will look to maintain its perfect record in the EuroBasket 2007 last-chance tournament on Saturday night with a victory against Denmark at the Nokia Arena.
By ALLON SINAIbasketball 88(photo credit: )
Israel will look to maintain its perfect record in the EuroBasket 2007 last-chance tournament on Saturday night with a victory against Denmark at the Nokia Arena.
The national team (3-0) took sole possession of first place in Group C on Wednesday after beating the previously undefeated Belgians 85-66. Israel's display against Belgium (2-1) was its best in years and the team will be eager to maintain its momentum against Denmark.
"The players played superbly and fought for every ball," assistant coach Arik Shiback said. "We must, however, win the games against Denmark and Ukraine so that the 19 point margin will be of any importance."
The national team, which visits Ukraine on August 22 and Belgium on August 25, needs to finish top of its group to qualify for a further qualifying competition in Madrid.
Israel's huge margin of victory against Belgium could prove to be crucial with both team's set to meet again in the final game of Group C. If both sides win their next two games the Belgian's will need to defeat Israel by more than 19 points to leapfrog the blue-and-white into first place.
"We can't underestimate the Danes on Saturday," said Lior Eliyahu, who was one of the team's stars against Belgium.
Israel defeated Denmark 72-60 in Aarhus just over a week ago despite playing poorly throughout most of the game.
Bosnia and Estonia are looking at the moment as the likely qualifiers from Group A and B respectively.
The sides, which are playing in three-team groups, have both won their first two matches and are ideally positioned to advance. Only one team will qualify for the European Championships from the three-team contest.
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
