Guy Goodes was officially introduced as the head coach of the Israel National Team at a festive press conference that was held at the Israel Basketball Association offices in Tel Aviv. Goodes who is also the head coach of Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion takes over from Oded Katash and will lead the Blue & White into World Cup qualifying in November as well as the EuroBasket in the summer of 2022.

“I’m very happy to be here in this building after being selected as the head coach of the Israel national team. I want to thank the heads of the Association along with all those who had a part in the decision. It’s a big honor after so many years of being involved and growing up as a player in the National Team system, but to one day sit in this chair here is a lot of responsibility. The team has had much success and there is a good base that we want to take it to the next level as we begin the World Cup qualifying and also take the team to the European Championship. We will do the best and the maximum that we can” Goodes began.

“We have a good mix of veterans and young players who have been playing together for a number of years and I believe that this will be an advantage for us going forward. As for the players who are in the Euroleague, we will have to try and find a solution for them as the association has done for some time. The players want to be a part of the national team and they want to be able to play as I’ve been able to see that from the positive messages that I have received.”

The new bench boss also spoke about how the roster of players could change over the course of the year, “We don’t know what the squad will be like and things can change as we want to try and do well in the European Championships. I don’t want to say we can advance to this level or that because things can change. I’m not sure what types of changes that I want to make and we will have to sit down and look at the players that are available to us and what their shape will be at that time. We know that there are always issues around National Team callups but we will do our best to help the Israel National Team to succeed.”

Amos Frishman, the Chairman of the Israel Basketball Association also discussed the decision to appoint Goodes to the position, “Whenever we talk about the Israel National Team it’s always exciting for me and that is the case as we introduce Guy Goodes who is a former player. I want to thank the previous staff under Oded Katash who did a great job. Dror Cohen will continue as an assistant coach and there will be another coach added to the staff as well. I want to wish them the best of luck going forward. We are looking ahead and the prior staff which was with us for four years did a superb job but now we decided that it was time to move on to a new coach.”