Hapoel Haifa begin their FIBA Europe Cup qualification journey against Enisey Krasnoyarsk on Wednesday at 16:00 Israel time. The Carmel Reds will look to punch their ticket to the qualifier final with a win over the hosts and then face the winner of the other semifinal between Medi Bayreuth and SZTE-Szeged on Friday.

Haifa coach Elad Hasin’s squad features a mix of Israeli league newcomers in the likes of Kadeem Allen, Scottie James and James Thompson as well as veterans Gregory Vargas, Amit Simhon and Spencer Weisz who joined the club after two years down south with Hapoel Beer Sheva.

The Sports Rabbi spoke to Weisz ahead of their clash with Enisey as to how Haifa feels about the matchup, his club’s strengths as well as how he feels personally about having the opportunity to play continental hoops.

“I’ve always wanted to advance my career and play on a team that plays in a European competition and I’m excited to finally have the chance.”

As for how the team has been coming together, Weisz is optimistic heading into the contest, “We’ve had a great week of practice leading up to the game. We’re focused and ready to give everything we have to try and qualify to the group stage. A strength of the team is our ability to defensively put a lot of pressure on opposing teams. We’re at our best when we take teams out of what they want to do offensively, which allows us to get out in transition.”

Weisz continued to emphasize the defensive side of the game being key along with controlling the boards, “The keys to victory is, as I previously mentioned, our defensive pressure on the ball and to be very physical. They have good size and we must rebound the ball as a team if we want a chance at winning.”