While Israel had already been eliminated from World Cup contention a few months ago, the final two games of the last window were still very, very meaningful and significant for the blue-and-white and one Noam Yaacov.

Yaacov, only 18-years old, was called into the Israel National Team camp for the first time and did not disappoint. For those who have followed the guard’s progress it was no surprise that he performed as well as he did and for those who hadn’t, well, they were in for a surprise.

With a dozen points and some no look passes in a tight 97-95 overtime loss to Finland and nearly a triple double with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in a 87-79 win over Slovenia in the final WCQ game, Yaacov was absolutely incredible.

The guard who is currently playing for Hapoel Jerusalem on loan from French club Villeurbanne had already shown flashes of stardom with the Reds, whether it was in their State Cup semifinal game against Hapoel Haifa or in Basketball Champions League clashes and regular season Israeli league contests.

In the semifinal, Yaacov’s daring play led to him knocking down free throw after free throw with ease under immense pressure in front of the home crowd which eventually led Jerusalem to the final and a victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv as he hoisted his first trophy as a senior player.

Yaacov plays the game with absolutely no fear; none whatsoever. He will do what he needs to do to find the basket, an open teammate and just be the best version of himself no matter what the situation is on the court.

With that in mind, there was no reason to think that Yaacov would not be able to also star with the Israel National Team which is exactly what he did.

Upon his arrival in camp, Yaacov fit right in like a glove. He joked with his teammates, earned respect of his teammates and most important of all made his teammates better. It’s not easy for an 18-year old to just walk into a team that has plenty of Israeli veterans such as captain Tomer Ginat, Bar Timor, Idan Zalmanson, Nimrod Levi, Itay Segev and many others but each player accepted him as one of their own in his first call-up to the senior squad.

His teammates in turn were impressed with his maturity, his desire to be the best that he can be along with his all-around talent and play.

“He’s a great kid,” Ginat said of Yaacov following the loss to Finland. “Amazingly talented and to come into this game, which is his first the national team appearance and to play the wat he did, he deserves the appreciation. I have no doubt that he has a very bright future ahead of him.”

Timor who he shared the floor with for many minutes over the course of the two games also spoke glowingly about Yaacov, “We saw how talented and how good he can be. We saw this week how excited, he was in practice and he told me that it was a dream to play as an 18 year old for the Israel national team. I really enjoy watching them and it’s great to see how they are integrating into the team, learning, asking questions as well as improving.”

“There are players here that played for the first time and they did an incredible job. We saw what Noam Yaacov can do and every player that was on the court really enjoyed being on the floor with each other,” Zalmanson added.

In turn, the modest Yaacov was very appreciative of the support he received from his national team teammates, “I took a lot out of being with the veteran players, especially Bar-T, Bar Timor. He is a player that I grew up watching and to now be playing with him now is crazy. The experience has been incredible and I am learning a tremendous amount.”

Interim head coach Nadav Zilberstein who gave Yaacov his first opportunity with the blue-and-white was also thoroughly impressed with the youngster as the veteran bench boss gave him plenty of playing time with 19+ minutes in the game with Finland and 27 minutes at Slovenia while he returned the faith that the coach had for him ten-fold.

“First of all, when a player is playing for a national team I treat him like a basketball player, regardless of his age. He showed a lot of confidence and maturity, he plays with a lot of self control knowing what he wants to do. When you want to develop players you need to give them a chance to play. It may cost you with some mistakes but I would rather have those mistakes when a guy like that is playing for us and he’s one of our future players he deserved it, he earned it.”

Yaacov’s performance over these two games had vaulted him into an automatic call up to every upcoming FIBA window should he be available. There is absolutely no reason to think that he can’t have the same impact with players such as Tamir Blatt, Yam Madar, Yovel Zoosman and Deni Avdija who are playing in the Euroleague and the NBA.

Following his first game wearing the senior blue-and-white jersey, Yaacov did not hide his excitement despite being a bit tempered due to the loss to Finland, “Of course this was a huge honor and I’m happy that I was able to play in my first game with the national team. But it’s really too bad that we didn’t come out of here with a win. I’m content that I can play my game and it’s great that they allow me to do so. I enjoy it very much but I also have a lot to improve upon but this was a positive start for me.”

Certainly, Yaacov will be at the forefront of the Under-20 squad when they head to Heraklion for the European Championships at the start of July as well as also being an important piece of the puzzle for the team that will feature in the Pre-Olympic Qualifiers as well. The only question whether or not he will be available for the windows throughout the basketball season will be if he is playing for a Euroleague team or not.

Will that be at Villeurbanne? Perhaps, but according to reports he has an out-clause and with Tony Parker looking to leave the club, it’s definitely possible that Yaacov will depart the French outfit.

Will it be at Hapoel Jerusalem? Could be as the BCL and Israeli league will allow the guard time to continue to develop in all aspects of his game.

Will it be another team in Europe with the chance to play in the Euroleague? Hey anything is possible and I am sure that his agent and family will steer him correctly.

Obviously, there was a reason why Yaacov was able to come to Jerusalem on loan midway through the season as he was tearing up the youth league with Villeurbanne but he didn’t get a chance to play with the senior team. The Reds gave him both the opportunity to play and train with adults something that he was not getting in France so to see him return to Villeurbanne looks very unlikely.

Ultimately, Yaacov will put this experience in his back pocket and move on, but he also knows that his success was also due to the group of players that were with him over the past week with the national team.

“It’s a great feeling. This wasn’t an easy game but we came away with the win. The staff and players really helped me integrate into the national team. It’s not always easy to accept a younger player but everyone did an incredible job. I didn’t really know how things would turn out, I knew that there were good players here and was sure that I would be able to blend in. It was great to finish this window with a win.”