Israel couldn’t have gotten off to a better start in Olympic Pre-Qualifying action as they smashed North Macedonia by 21-points, 86-65. The blue-and-white surprisingly like a well oiled machine under head coach Ariel Beit Halachmi’s guidance, scoring at will, running the fast break and seeing five players in double digits. The bench boss’s official first game in charge was just what the doctor had ordered.

However, the truth of the matter is that North Macedonia is the weakest team in the four team group which will see Israel still have two play Czechia on Sunday and then the hosts Estonia on Tuesday. The Czechs slipped by Estonia 77-74 in the earlier game and can already punch their ticket to the Final Four in Poland with a win over the blue-and-white. Beit Halachmi is fully aware as are his players that one win was nice, but they will need to win at least one more game and even in that case point differential can play a factor in which two teams will head to the next stage.

Regardless of what is to come on Sunday afternoon, there were a ton of positives that Beit Halachmi and his young squad can take out of the game. First off, Roman Sorkin was an absolute stud with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists along while going 2/3 from beyond the arc. The Maccabi Tel Aviv big man couldn’t have had a better game as he just was so dominant for the blue-and-white inside but also was a real threat from the outside which was something Sorkin had been working on heading into this tournament as we saw in practice as well just days ago in Herzliya.

הקליעה של סורקין👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/5qeTueeARH

— Sports Rabbi (@thesportsrabbi) August 9, 2023

Iftach Ziv looked like the Iftach Ziv of old from Hapoel Gilboa Galil when he led the Galilee squad to the Israeli league finals where they ultimately succumbed to Maccabi Tel Aviv, the team he would then go on to play for over the past two seasons. Ziv looked free as a bird and unencumbered under Beit Halachmi which was so refreshing after the two years in yellow-and-blue. He shot with confidence, took the ball to the hole and was extremely effective in the victory.

“It’s great and this was really a team win,” Ziv said. “But it was only the first game and we have to be prepared for Sunday’s contest. I feel good because we played well as a team. We started well and we were very aggressive and if we play like this we are very good.”

Yam Madar used his Euroleague experience right from the tipoff as he attacked the basket and controlled the pace of play over the opening frame to set the tone for Israel and help them to the victory. While Sorkin and Ziv may have been the top two scorers it was Madar who orchestrated the win.

Finally, Netanel Artzi did exactly what Beit Halachmi had asked him to do; play aggressive basketball, play to your strengths and play with confidence. And that is what he did. 10 points, 5 boards and a trio of fouls is what Artzi did for Israel and he couldn’t have been happier.

“We feel good and happy that we started off this tournament on the right foot but now we are looking ahead to the next game,” Artzi explained.

But now it’s onto game two and everyone around the national team knows full well that the game against Czechia is going to be a totally different story than North Macedonia. Despite not having Tomas Satoransky and Jan Vesely as well as Israeli head coach Neno Ginzburg who left his post after a decade, Czechia is still loaded with not only talent but players who have been together for a significant amount of time.

Vit Krejci has played the last two seasons in the NBA and the G-League, Vojtech Hruban, Martin Peterka along with Martin Kriz and Tomas Kyzlink. That’s not to say Israel can’t find a way to win, they most certainly can, but it will not be as easy as the win over North Macedonia.

“We have a very important game on Sunday,” Artzi said. “We have to come into that ready to go but we also have to have in mind that the game will be against a totally different team that is strong and solid.”

However, if Israel can play as well as they did do against the Macedonians, Beit Halachmi’s team will have a very good chance to move to 2-0 which would put them in prime position to find their way to the Final Four and a spot in the semifinals. But that is still, a long, long way off.

“We knew that this was the weakest team in the group,” Ziv said. “Now we have two games against the teams that will be battling it out to advance to the next stage. The staff will get us ready and we will be prepared for the next game.”