For me, a basketball game is always a celebration, but it’s hard to overstate the festive atmosphere that fills every corner of the city of Katowice which is a small, sleepy town on ordinary days that, every few years, gets to host a major tournament and rightly so. The Spodek Arena, the venue hosting Israel’s Eurobasket group, is one of the most beautiful and impressive in Europe and as 9,300 Polish fans proved last night (Thursday) it can also be one of the loudest.

But even before you step inside the arena everything feels like it’s one big party. Local fans, together with about 1,500 Icelanders, a few dozen Slovenians and hundreds of Israelis are hanging out in the well-designed fan zone. The French and Belgians, by the way, were barely seen.

The Israeli presence is strongly felt here. Despite anti-Israel protests planned for tomorrow (Saturday), it seems the Israelis themselves aren’t particularly afraid. Some are keeping a low profile (not very successfully) with Israeli and Jewish symbols, but once they approach the arena, the flags, scarves and jerseys come out and Hebrew is heard everywhere.

Among the hundreds of Israelis, there’s one especially moving group the delegation from Beit HaLochem Jerusalem, who came to support the national team in an initiative by the Israel Basketball Association and the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization.

In conversations with “Sports Rabbi” the wounded veterans describe immense excitement and pride. Uri Asraf (22), who served in the Paratroopers’ Recon Unit and was wounded by a grenade in Khan Yunis about a year and a half ago, shared, “We came to support, encourage and strengthen the Israeli team, to show them how important this victory is. We want to show all of Europe that we’re not afraid, we don’t lower our heads. Doing this specifically in Poland gives us a sense of wanting to prove that no one is above us, to show that Am Yisrael Chai.”

On the court, Israel faced a group of tough Icelanders which is a team without a star player (though with very long last names, all without exception ending in “-son”). Martin Hermannsson from Alba Berlin is probably the most notable name, although he didn’t do much on the court. The one who did stand out was Elvar Fridriksson, who scored 17 points but with terrible shooting percentages. Tryggvi Hlinason, a 2.16m (7’1″) center who grew up on a remote sheep farm in Iceland, showed impressive endurance by playing 36 minutes, which translated into 13 points and 14 rebounds.

To be fair, Israel didn’t have a good game. Yam Madar, Tomer Ginat, and Khadeen Carrington will have to step up big time if they want to beat the Poles. The Icelanders, who finished with just 17% from 3-point range, will likely get their first ever EuroBasket win later on thanks to the Belgian team being very weak

And speaking of Belgium, it’s a bit sad to watch them. Without their top four players, coach Dario Gjergja has very little to work with. Ismaël Bako is a decent center for a EuroLeague bottom-tier team and not much more. No wonder the French had no trouble against them. In fact, it seemed like the French had decided beforehand that if a player reached double-digits he would get subbed out. Somehow, they still finished with five such players, with only Guerschon Yabusele playing more than 21 minutes. That game ended so early that a few Israeli journalists had time to go shopping at the mall and make it back before the evening’s main event.

And what a main event it was. The Spodek Arena turned red-and-white. Polish ultras brought drums and fired up thousands of local fans. When Luka Dončić was introduced, the boos that rang out were likely the loudest he’s ever heard in his life. On the court, the Poles tried various ways to stop Luka which Israel will likely also attempt primarily aggressive trapping and hard hedging (where the center jumps out after the pick & roll to stop the ball handler, then quickly drops back once the guard recovers). It didn’t work in the first quarter, but in the second, Luka was held to just three points which he scored with a minute and a half left in the half.

The truth is we won’t be able to hold Luka under 30 points. The real goal should be to stop the rest of the players, especially Klemen Prepelič and Gregor Hrovat. As for Alen Omić we don’t need to stop him, he does that on his own.

Unlike the Slovenians, the Polish team is well-balanced. Jordan Loyd and Mateusz Ponitka may be the leaders, but points can also come from Aleksander Balcerowski, Andrzej Pluta and Sokołowski. It’s not an easy task but definitely a doable one.

Shabbat Shalom.