Last update - 00:00 21/11/2006
Hapoel Jerusalem looking to bounce back against Oostende
By Vered Cohen
Hapoel Jerusalem has an excellent opportunity to bounce back from their defeat to Academic Sofia last week, when it finds itself in the unusual position of hosting a team with more troubles than its own in match day four of the ULEB Cup tonight.
Hapoel takes on Belgian side Oostende, which like Jerusalem is 1-2 in the competition after losing to Alba Berlin last week.
Oostende arrived in Israel yesterday without a coach after the man who led it to last season's Belgian championship, Serb Mihailo Uvalin, was fired after the team's fourth defeat in 10 league games. Uvalin's place on the sidelines will be taken tonight by his Italian assistant Umberto Badioli.
Badioli hasn't had time to prepare his team for the encounter, but was talking the talk yesterday. "I haven't had time to do any serious scouting on Hapoel," admitted Badioli, "but I have faith in my team and I believe it will play like it knows how to and win."
Americans Rashad Wirght with 18.3 points and Lavor Postell with 16.3 lead Oostende's game together with Bosnian center Elvir Ovcina with 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds.
In the Jerusalem camp, meanwhile, coach Dan Shamir and captain Meir Tapiro may have put their much publicized spat behind them, but the team again didn't look strong against Ashkelon on Sunday and if it doesn't improve tonight, the Belgians could pull off an upset.
"The Belgians have athletic, talented players with Euroleague experience," Shamir said yesterday. "Oostende is a team with erratic form. It beat Khimki Moscow. I don't know which team we'll meet, but what's important is what kind of game we play.
"We cannot afford to lose," said forward Matan Naor, Hapoel's savior in its last two games. "We need to put up the kind of fight we did against Siena."