Group D preview: The last two League Cup winners and 2018 finalists form a tough group

The Balkan League is due to start next week with the first games from the Israeli groups. Without doubt there will be a strong fight between the 12 teams to reach the next stage and won′t lie if the say that Group D is one of the toughest, if not the toughest one to go out from. Hapoel Altshuler Shaham Be′er Sheva, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and Maccabi Rishon LeZion will play against each other and the winner will go to the final game to determine which will continue to the stage with the Balkan teams.

In the last few years Hapoel Be′er Sheva is enjoying the best years in its history. First in 2018 the team won promotion to the top divison in Israel and the same year reached the Final of the League Cup losing to Maccabi Rishon LeZion. The participation in the Balkan League will mark the team′s first ever in a continental competition and despite the fact that they are up against some of the best in Israel, Hapoel′s ambitions are high. The head coach of the team is Rami Hadar who has experience at Maccabi Tel Aviv both as assistant and head coach. He took over in 2018 and has been in charge since. For the upcoming season the club has built a relatively young roster with no player over 30. That should mean an interesting and quick playing style and those games will be a learning experience for everybody.

Hapoel Jerusalem is one of the traditional powerhouses in Israeli basketball and has won twice the title in 2015 and 2017. Hapoel will also compete in the Champions league and after losing in the 1/4 finals the last two editions, will aim to go at least a step higher. The current head coach is one of Israeli′s best players ever - Oded Kattash. He took charge in 2018 and is also the current head coach of the national team of Israel. Other big Israeli name - Yotam Halperin, is the team′s Sports Director. Hapoel has a balanced roster with some experience and young players. The best assistman in Eurocup from two seasons ago - Chris Cramer is here and he came from Ritas with 20-year old Lithuanian Deividas Sirvydis. The team has also one of Israel′s stars in Tamir Blatt and in general a roster build for success.

Maccabi Rishon LeZion is a team with a rich history after being founded 44 years ago. Despite however having Miki Berkovich - considered by many as the best Israeli basketball player of all times, for few season, the biggest success came in 2016. After having a so-so regular season finishing in 6th place, Maccabi played its best in the playoffs. First they beat Maccabi Haifa and then the powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv in the semi-final. After 25 years Rishon LeZion again reached the final but this time it was on the winning side after downing Hapoel Jerusalem and capturing its first ever championship. The team continued to have good seasons afterwards winning Israeli League Cup for 2018-2019 and reaching the League finals both in that season and the last one over the summer eventually losing both to Maccabi Tel Aviv. That performance however earned Rishon LeZion a place in Eurocup but due to the pandemic situation the club decided to withdraw from the competition. Head coach Guy Goodes is one with big experience having been at the helm of Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Like his two colleague from this group - he joined the team in 2018 and has been in charge since. He is currently also the head coach of Israel U20 National team. One of the players - Nimrod Tishman, already has BIBL experience playing for Galil Gilboa as a youngster so he will be one of the players who could help and lead the others in those matches.

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