The Israel Under-20 Men’s Basketball Team is in the midst of this year’s European Championship taking place in Gdynia, Poland. The blue-and-white is now battling it out for placement classification after being eliminated from winning the title with a round-of-16 loss to Greece.
The competition, which began last weekend, runs for nine days. Each of the 16 teams in the tournament was split into four groups, playing three group stage games apiece, followed by knockout contests that started with the Round of 16 and continue to the finals.
Israel was in a group with Czechia, Italy, and Germany. Expectations were high after last year’s tremendous performance, which saw the blue-and-white go all the way to the championship game but come up just short against France. However, this squad is quite different from last year’s version, with numerous new players who have moved up from the Under-18 team. But head coach Elad Hasin still had plenty of firepower to make some serious noise.
Noam Yaacov, who was named to last year’s Team of the Tournament, is back to captain Israel after just having signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv. The guard played the last number of seasons in France with ASVEL Villeurbanne and has also featured in the Euroleague.
In addition to the Danish-born Yaacov, who will no doubt be the unquestioned leader of the group, Shachar Doron will take the next step in his young career. The 19-year-old, who had a central role with Elitzur Shomron in the Leumit league this past year, will be counted on to provide both scoring and creativity for Hasin’s team.
Looking both ways
Just ahead of the tournament’s tip-off, Doron sat down with The Jerusalem Post to not only look ahead at the upcoming competition but also look back at an intense year that saw him play a number of games for Maccabi Tel Aviv, recuperate from an injury, and be drafted by the Israel Defense Forces. But to begin with, Doron, like the rest of the delegation, spoke about the country’s current war with Hamas and its challenges.
“With everything that is happening in the country right now, the most important thing is to get the hostages back. Our thoughts are with them, and as we head to Poland, we will have them with us.”
Doron, who began playing basketball when he was four years old while attending an after-school program, comes from a family of athletes who encouraged him to follow his dreams.
“When I was growing up, I really liked to watch Derrick Rose, and now as I have evolved as a player, I enjoy seeing Kostas Sloukas and Nando de Colo play, as well as players similar to them.”
From after-school basketball, Doron moved to Maccabi Tel Aviv’s youth department, where he continued to hone his skills and was able to see that he could one day be a pro player. Last year, Doron featured for the Israel Under-18 team, which finished its European Championship campaign in a very respectable sixth place. He was one of the lead ball handlers and scorers for a team, averaging 20 points per game while grabbing 4.1 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists per game.
“The guys really believed in me,” Doron continued. “Head coach Sharon Avrahami gave me the freedom to do what I needed to. But I also believe in myself, and that is why I am able to get to where I am today.”
Last season, Doron played an integral part in Elitzur Shomron’s success in Israel’s second division, but there had been rumors he would play with a first division club or even in Europe. Along with being one of the key players for Shomron, he also worked with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
“With Shomron, I was able to get playing time and also have the opportunity to match up against older and bigger players, which was very helpful. There were discussions with Mega in Belgrade, but the army made that an issue, and Hapoel Jerusalem wasn’t an option because I wanted to play. So at Shomron, I was really able to play and improve my game. Plus, Maccabi also gave me so much to help me out as well, as I worked with Yotam Halperin. He’s a great guy and explained things so well. It was incredible to work with him; he was just great.”
However, Doron felt that he could have done more to help the team out.
“I’m not happy, as I could have done more. The injury I incurred with Maccabi kept me out for 2.5 months, and when I came back, it was tough mentally, and I also didn’t feel 100%. I don’t think I was the best I could have been. Between the injury and the army and being drafted near the end of the season, it was tough, but I learned so much.”
Along with playing for Shomron last season, Doron also was able to make his first division debut with Maccabi Tel Aviv and played in three games when the war against Hamas was raging in the winter and the yellow-and-blue import players did not all return to Israel.
“General manager Avi Even called me and said that I might play with Maccabi, and it was so exciting when a month or so later I was on the court for the senior team. It was so much fun.”
For next season, Doron still hasn’t signed a contract, but Netanya is an option for the guard, who doesn’t see himself as either a shooting guard or point guard but somewhere in between as he continues to improve his game.
“Maybe I’m more of a combo guard that can play both positions, like a 1.5. I want to be a scorer at the highest levels, but I also know I have to work on some things, whether it’s my dribbling or putting on more muscle and weight.”
As the conversation comes to a close, Doron looked towards the future and spoke glowingly about Deni Avdija being the most famous person that he had ever met and made it clear what his biggest dream is in just three letters: “NBA.”