EuroBasket 2009 Qual - Israel v Bosnia Hercegovina

A new basketball season is ahead of us and after I took a few months off gambling and tipping, I will start with Eurobasket to get back to form I had last season.

This is not the time for high stakes I believe, at least not on this game, but still, I believe that Israel worth a small bet this evening.

Israel played terrible four games. I watched all four and couldn’t watch the whole game, because it was just ugly. As an Israeli I know that we got one of the worst teams we ever presented. The old stars retired (some due to injuries, some just got too old) and the new ones simply can’t live to expectations. It was suppose to be a team of Halperin, Burstein, Eliyahu and Green with Ohanon, Itzhaki to complete the starters and the 6th man and Caspi to come from the bench and add energies. Instead Halperin can’t live up to the hype and simply can’t take the leader’s role he was designated for since back in high school. Eliyahu haven’t progressed an inch since two years ago, Burstein had injuries and asked to be left out from this campaign and Ohanon and Itzhaki simply disappeared from the national basketball map. The only that delivered what was expected was Green, but he never was suppose to be the star. This is why we stuck with Tapiro as the star of the team and Naor as the only defensive stopper. Tapiro inconsistent and Naor will retire from the basketball (at least for now, since he is still young) after Eurobasket qualifications.

And still, I doubt that anyone has expected such a performances from the Israeli team. 0 – 4 would reflect more accurately the games Israel played so far, since Britain simply gave us the game in Israel. Still, I always believe that if a team sub performing, it’s only a question of time till the team will bounce back with a above average game. Tonight is a must win for Israel and more than that, they must win by 6 points or more to leave a chance to qualify for the Eurobasket directly (without last chance tournament). Bosnia’s team also isn’t in their best condition and that is the reason that suddenly Czech Republic and Britain got a chance all of a sudden to qualify. Bosnia as all the teams from former Yugoslavia always dangerous from behind the arc, but right now they don’t have a single star, the go to guy for them and that is the type of teams that Israel has the problem against them (not due to the superstars, but mainly because with all the focus on the superstars as Welsch and Deng, the other “gray” players kill the game for Israel).

Israel the last few years proved that ex Yugoslavian teams are the teams that Israel does best against. Last season Israel got to Eurobasket and got to the next stage there due to wins over Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia. I believe that Israel with the back to the wall will play smart as they can play and with passion and that really should be enough.

Still, such poor team as Israel has this time, it’s only low stakes bet that they will win above 7 points, even if the game is at home against a weak team as Bosnia.



Pick : Israel -7
Odds : 1.94
Stake : 4 / 10
Bookmaker : Pinnacle
Match Result : 88-74
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor:

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