First Game

The first game of the season is very important to win and we knew that in order to do so the entire team needed to be mentally and physically ready to play hard. We knew that this would be a tough game as the opposing team, Ramat Gan, was very motivated and also had the home court advantage. Coach Ashkenazi and the rest of the coaching staff prepared us very well for the game. We watched a lot of film about Ramat Gan, reviewed scouting reports and studied their plays and the roles of their individual players on the court. We knew they were going to play a lot of zone defense and use full court press so we practiced plays that would help us to break the zone and beat the full court press. The team had added motivation to win because the Maccabi Haifa Heat team owner,  Jeffrey Rosen, came to Israel to show his support and be at our first game. We were very happy that we were able to present him with a win.  

After a tough first half of the game, the team pulled it together in the third quarter and after a great finish, we won by double digits. All in all everyone played well and the team is motivated to move forward and get even better. Winning the first game was a great feeling because it showed that all our hard work during the preseason paid off and that we have come a long way as a team. We look forward to playing hard at our next game, another away game, this coming Saturday night against Rishon Letzion.

-Tamir

An Inside Look at Pre-Season

It has been about six weeks since I arrived in Israel to join Maccabi Haifa Heat. We are now deep into our preseason and the whole team--from the players to the coaches to the management-- has been working very hard to get ready for our opening league game next Sunday against Ramat Gan. Everyone is excited about the season and there is lots of positive energy.  Our intense preseason training has consisted of weight training, speed and agility work, track workouts as well as regular basketball practices. The players are in great shape and we are improving as a team each day.

Coach Ashkenazi is always stressing that we need to come together as a team in order to succeed. We had a great opportunity for team bonding both on and off the court at our training camp which was held in the beautiful surroundings of northern Israel. While we work hard at each practice to reach our full potential as a team, we have also been proactive off the court. The team recently went to visit young patients at Haifa’s Rambam hospital. We wished the kids a happy and healthy New Year and presented them with lots of cool Haifa Heat paraphernalia. The team has also established a special program in which people can purchase Heat tickets which will be distributed to underprivileged kids.

We will complete eight preseason games before our opening game. The start of the season, like the start of the New Year, is always such an exciting time. I am thrilled to be part of the Haifa Heat organization and look forward to playing my best to help our team win games. I am confident that if Haifa Heat continues to improve as a team and continue with our positive attitude and hard work then we will win a lot of games and make our fans proud.

-Tamir