Israel opens its 2023 FIBA Women\u2019s EuroBasket campaign against Belgium on Thursday (18:15 IDT \/ 11:15 EDT) at Tel Aviv\u2019s Shlomo Group Arena \u2013 Drive In. It\u2019s going to be a big challenge for the home team, as the Cats are ranked seventh in the world by FIBA.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Belgium team is second in Europe and they deserve the respect, they earned it,\u201d Israeli coach Sharon Drucker said prior to the matchup. \u201cBut we are not looking at them but at us. We showed in the exhibition games that we can compete against medium-level teams now and Belgium is the highest, let\u2019s see what we can do against them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe come every game to win and Belgium is our first target,\u201d Israeli captain Eden Rotberg said. \u201cThey are the second-best team overall, but we have to concentrate on ourselves. We have been working hard for a year-and-a-half for this moment and we have to show it.\u201d
\nBelgium boasts a star roster, including captain Emma Meesseman, who is coming off a EuroLeague championship with Fenerbache, a tournament during which she was also named MVP. She\u2019s not going to be distracted from the Cats\u2019 goal of bettering the Bronze that they won in 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never really think about the past season,\u201d Meesseman said. \u201cThis is another team, different kind of basketball, different role for me too. I\u2019m just always trying to bring my best, whatever the team needs from me. I have to be a leader here too, as I was in Fener, but it\u2019s still going to be different. I\u2019m just going to try to give my best and do whatever coach asks from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will be familiar faces on both sides of the court, with Meesseman having played with Israeli star, Jennie Simms, with the Washington Mystics back in 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just so proud of how she came back and kept fighting and working hard,\u201d Meesseman said of Simms, who was waived by the Mystics during that 2017-18 campaign. \u201cNow she\u2019s playing as the star player of a national team in Europe \u2013 it\u2019s just amazing to see her grow that much.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are we going to try to do to stop her? I think anything in our power. I know it\u2019s going to be hard, because she basically plays all positions. I know she\u2019s a hard worker, so we will all need to work double-y as hard maybe just in order to stop her. I know that they deserve to be here and we\u2019re just going to have to be ready for that first home game for them.\u201d
\nBelgium\u2019s squad also includes Maxuella Lisowa Mbaka, who has spent time playing with Elitzur Ramla in Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot say that it\u2019s an advantage, but for sure, we asked Maxuella what she thinks about the players,\u201d Belgium coach Rachid Meziane said. \u201cShe gave us some advice, so we will see. But players are different when they play with the national team, some of the roles are different, so we will see. But I cannot consider that it\u2019s a big advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
While they may be underdogs, we can be sure that Israel will leave everything on the court as they play in front of their family and friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur expectation, if someone knows the history of women\u2019s basketball and the EuroBasket, our goal is to show something special,\u201d Drucker said. \u201cI think we have a group of ladies that are very determined and very big motivated \u2013 honestly, I haven\u2019t seen this level of motivation in a long time. They want to go and play, to show, to prove and I think for all the fans, all the young generation that will come and watch our national team. Our goal is that they will see heart, they will see them giving the maximum on the floor and they will show pride.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israel opens its 2023 FIBA Women\u2019s EuroBasket campaign against Belgium on Thursday (18:15 IDT \/ 11:15 EDT) at Tel Aviv\u2019s Shlomo Group Arena \u2013 Drive In. It\u2019s going to be a big challenge for the home team, as the Cats are ranked seventh in the world by FIBA. \u201cThe Belgium team is second in Europe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":89299,"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":[1],"tags":[29],"class_list":["post-89297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-israel","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n