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Alon Michaeli – Photo Credit: FIBA<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cThere’s a ton of excitement,\u201d Michaeli began. \u201cWe’re so excited and are looking forward to the first game. This is my last youth championship so I’m a little bit sad about that as I really enjoy coming to the national team camp every summer after the season and seeing all the guys. It\u2019s always the same group and we are all friends, so it’s always fun to be here in the summer. It\u2019s too bad that this is the last time, but we’ll try to finish this off on a high note and one that will be unforgettable.\u201d
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\nThe 19-year old Michaeli was impressed with the recent success of the Israel Under-19 team, which finished in seventh place at the World Championship, \u201cIt really motivated all of us. They had an amazing tournament and it whetted our appetite, too. When we were training we saw them here as well and one day we all stayed to watch them after our own practice. It really whetted everyone’s appetite and we can\u2019t wait to begin our championship too.\u201d
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\nThe current Under-20 team is stacked with talent and it’s impossible to ignore the historic European Championships of 2018 and 2019 where Deni Avdija led the squad to the title, \u201cFirst of all, we’re aiming finish as best as possible,\u201d Michaeli said. \u201cWe\u2019re focussing on first game against Spain and then we will look at the second one as we are going game by game. There’s still a long way to go and we’re coming to win every game.\u201d
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Alon Michaeli – Photo Credit: FIBA<\/p><\/div>\u00a0
\nMichaeli, who stands at 2.03 meters is not your typical big man as he is very mobile and has soft hands, \u201cI feel like I can contribute and in the last two European Championships I played in, I felt relatively good, so I feel like I have something to give here. I\u2019m looking forward to it as I want to do as much as I can and do the best I can for the team to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
This will mark the third time that Michaeli will team up with Mayer as they played together at the Under-16 European Championship in 2021 and then with the Under-18\u2019s in 2023, \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of fun to play with Omer who is first and foremost a good friend but he’s also an amazing player of course and everyone loves him here. He\u2019s just a guy who’s fun to be with both in the lockerroom and on the court, so it\u2019s great to reunite with him once again.\u201d
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\nMichaeli feels comfortable playing under Avrahami as the blue-and-white finished in 6th place last year, \u201cSharon is an amazing coach and he gives the players confidence and support. I feel very comfortable and look forward to playing with his team yet again.\u201d
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Alon Michaeli and Ori Cohen – Photo Credit: FIBA<\/p><\/div>\u00a0
\nHaving grown up in the Kfar Saba youth department, Michaeli began playing basketball at the tender age of five, \u201cI was in first grade or kindergarten, I don’t remember exactly which year but like every kid who plays basketball in Kfar Saba, they all just love the game. I really enjoyed playing already from such a young age and from there my skills began to develop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alon Michaeli is following in the footsteps of his older brother, Yuval who also plays professionally with Maccabi Ashdod who earned promotion from the third division to the second, also has played for the Israel youth teams as well as in the Leumit League. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s really great, he was my role model,\u201d Alon Michaeli said. \u201cMy brother and I are very close, way beyond the sport of basketball and that really helped me a lot, especially at a young age as I had an older brother at home whom I could look up to. He often gave me tips and helped me out.\u201d
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Alon Michaeli – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nAt the beginning of the 2022\/23 season, the 16-year old Michaeli made his debut in the Israel Premier League against Hapoel Jerusalem as he spoke about what it was like to be such a youngster playing in the country\u2019s top league, \u201cIt was amazing. I was in the 11th grade and playing with the youth team at the time. I believe that this was really something that helped me a tremendous amount, having the opportunity to train with the senior professional team. At the end of the day as a kid you have the chance to train with some very good players who are already 30 years old or so and who are much more experienced and mature, it\u2019s invaluable. I was able to go toe-to-toe with with the physicality of older professionals at a very young age and that helped me a lot.\u201d
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\nIn the 2023\/24 season, Michaeli, along with Ilay Dolinski were key contributors to Elitzur Netanya who were also promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season, \u201cPlaying in Netanya was a lot of fun and we ended our time there on a high note which was a great feeling. I was very happy that we were promoted and it was just a very happy moment. In fact it was one of the happiest moments I can remember in basketball for me personally.\u201d<\/p>\n
This past year, Michaeli received significant minutes with Herzliya and was in Head Coach Yehu Orland\u2019s starting lineup ten times but did not see the floor in their best-of-5 quarterfinal series with Hapoel Holo as well as in the State Cup semi-finals against Hapoel Jerusalem.
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Alon Michaeli – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\n\u201cObviously, as a basketball player, you always strive to play as much as possible,\u201d Michaeli responded. \u201cBut I think that at my age as I’m only 19 years old, it’s also very important to look beyond the actual playing time. That you’re in the top league, you\u2019re really developing, that you’re training at a high level, working hard and really feeling like you’re progressing personally and becoming a better player. So even if there were some difficult moments on the court, when things weren’t going as well as I would have liked, I always felt like I was making a lot of progress and continuing to developing. So in that regard, when I look back at the season I am satisfied because I feel like I’ve improved a lot.\u201d
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\nDuring the summer, there were rumors that Michaeli was looking to head to the United States and try his luck at college basketball which has been a huge trend in Israel and across Europe. But so far there have been no reports of a specific college that is to his liking and it’s not yet clear where he will play next season, however, for now he is still a Herzliya player which will also be playing in the Basketball Champions League. <\/p>\n
\u201cI’m currently under contract with Bnei Herzliya for two more years and I really haven’t been involved in anything right now. My sole focus and is on the championship, that’s where my mind is. Only in the championship that starts on Saturday.\u201d
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_4106.jpeg\")
Alon Michaeli – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nMichaeli can play both the power forward and center positions which is where he also sees his future, \u201cI want to develop as a power forward that can also play at center. I think I have a lot of things that I’m good at overall and I really need to improve a lot of things. As always, there’s a lot to improve on and I’ll work as hard as I can to improve on those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2021 Michaeli teamed up with Ben Saraf, who was recently selected 26th overall in the NBA draft by the Brooklyn Nets, \u201cWow, it’s honestly amazing. I got to play with him on that Under-16 team when he was a year younger than all of us and just had an amazing tournament. It’s fun to watch him and he’s my friend so I’m very happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michaeli is still stunned to be able to play in the Premier League which to him is just one step closer to reaching his dreams, \u201cIt was very strange for me to suddenly be playing against the big teams. I was excited about it, because really, years ago I would just watch these teams on TV. I was excited to play against these teams and now that I\u2019m here, I hope to reach my next goal of playing on the senior Israel National Team.”
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_20250709_204957_224.jpg\")
Israel Under-20 – Photo Credit: Yehuda Halickman<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Israel Under-20 National Team will begin its journey at the European Championship in Crete, Greece on Saturday afternoon 3:30pm against Spain in Group A action. Coach Sharon Avrahami’s squad arrives at the Greek island with Purdue\u2019s Omer Mayer who was the star of the Under-19 team at the World Championship, but under the radar, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":115172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6366,29],"class_list":["post-149026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-alon-michaeli","tag-israel","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n