It all comes down to this game. Israel had to go through more than a dozen games to even make it to the group stages of this competition while Serbia spent a lot of time and energy in preparation camp and practice games.
Now they go up against each other with a clear idea of what is at stake – the winners get to go through to the next round in Madrid, while the losers head home and finish in the 13th-16th places.
Last Time Out: Israel suffered a 90-56 loss to Russia yesterday in what was a poor performance for Zvidik Sherf’s side. Serbia meanwhile put up a heroic fight against the defending champions Greece, before losing 68-67 in overtime.
Head-to-Head: In 2005, Israel and hosts Serbia & Montenegro played in the same preliminary round group. For three quarters it was a close game, until the home nation took off to win 93-77. That was Israel’s only defeat in the group. Marko Jaric was the top scorer back in that game with 19 points.
Key Match-up: They play different roles, but Serbia's Milan Gurovic and Israel's Meir Tapiro are the two most lethal offensive weapons of their respective teams and have a lot in common. Both are 32-years-old, both - when in a zone - can score at will and make you wonder how on earth the shot went in. Both have their troubles on the defensive end and play for teams that so far have struggled on offense and the pair know they can shoot much better than what they have shown so far. The difference in the outcome of this game may be down to which one of these two scorers - Gurovic or Tapiro - delivers the best performance.
Israel need a big offensive
display from Tapiro
Statistics: Both teams are among the bottom five in field goal percentage. Serbia is second last with 35.2% while Israel ranks 12th with 39.3%. Neither of the teams managed to score more than 67 points in their games so far.
X-Factor: Once again we go back to Serbia’s Zoran Erceg. Before the game against Greece, he was asked to help Darko Milicic with outside shots and rebounds. He answered that call by going 0-3 from long-range but did pull down 12 boards. Israel's small line-up must focus on Milicic’s dominance in the paint. If Erceg figures out how to use the fact the focus isn't on him, Israel's life will be made very tough.
What It Means: It’s pretty clear - win and advance or lose and go home. Serbia can't imagine finishing in the 13th-16th spots, which would make it their lowest placing since their first EuroBasket in 1947 when they came in 13th. Israel had a long journey just to get to the group stages and they don't want to go home so quickly. They too only once in their history finished worse than the 11th spot, in the 1995 EuroBasket (15th place).
