Israel punched their ticket to the Eurobasket Round of 16 after securing qualification in a 92-89 win over Belgium in Group D action. The blue-and-white will take on Luka Doncic and Slovenia on Thursday as they will look to finish as high as possible in group play in order to get an easier draw in the knockout clash from Group C in a game slated for Sunday in Riga, Latvia.

Head Coach Ariel Beit Halachmi and Deni Avdija spoke about the victory while also looking ahead to tipping off against one of today’s greatest players in Doncic.

“We’re very happy, this was our first goal, to qualify. We did that against Belgium and we even have a chance to finish in a higher position. We made the game difficult in the last quarter and what happened there is unacceptable. I spoke to the players about it but now it’s time to smile a bit as I’m very proud of our group, the players and the staff.”

“Our players are very, very focused. I imagine they were disappointed with the last quarter and also with the fact that we didn’t finish the game much earlier. At the end of the day, we completed the first stage, but I don’t see it as such a big achievement. We need to do even more with this team. First, we have one more game and then we’ll see what position we finish in. We need to aim much higher than the Round of 16.”

The bench boy also gave his thoughts on how to beat Slovenia, “Lock down on defense, open up on offense.”

Avdija also commented on the win, “We controlled most of the game. We came to play and we were aggressive. They managed to make it difficult for us in the last quarter, but we got the job done and won the game. We have one more game that’s very important to us. We’re not intimidated and we’ll try to play our game. I’m very happy, but our focus is forward.”

“I really believe in our players and our staff. I don’t believe the same thing will happen again [when Israel lost by a big margin to Italy in the 2015 Round of 16]. We’ll do everything we can to prepare both in terms of energy and in terms of gameplay. Other than that, I can’t say what will happen next. We’re taking it game by game. We have to beat Slovenia so we can get a better position in the group and when we reach the Round of 16, we can talk about our next opponent.”

The Israeli NBA star also spoke about facing Dončić, “He’s an excellent, very talented player. Slovenia relies on him and he’s their central piece. We have a game plan, we have a great national team and a staff that will prepare us. I’ve played against him many times and this time will be no different. We’ll be aggressive as a team and try to win. As for tips from my experience against him, well, I’ll share those behind closed doors. He’s versatile and of course it’s not easy to stop him, but I believe in our guys.”