Basketball / For some U.S. players in Israel, a healthy nightlife is key to finding peace in a foreign land

The name "Mandy's" first burst back into the public's consciousness in March, when three men allegedly attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv big man D'or Fischer outside the north Tel Aviv nightclub.

But for foreign basketball players plying the parquet for Israeli teams from Nahariya to Ashkelon, the club, with its frequent hip-hop nights, is much more than a crime scene, but ground zero for a lively nightlife that makes living in a strange country far from home much easier to handle.

The action begins around 9 P.M., when two beefy bodyguards block the club's door with their bodies, while a rail-thin "selector" points to the chosen few eligible to enter the premises.

Once inside the club, a number of figures immediately stand out, both for their supernatural height and their urban American attire.

"There are a number of different types of foreigners who come to play in Israel," says Rubi Balinko, a veteran Premier League coach who today runs a basketball academy for youth. "Some of them lead perfect athletic lives - they get up early, train early in the morning even when there isn't a practice, and spend time with their families."

Then there are the partiers. "They go out around 1 A.M. and come home around sunrise. Some come from Europe with good work habits, then deteriorate here. If there is no morning practice, they allow themselves to get up as late as they can," Balinko said.

Another coach added, "It's happened more than once that players came to a morning practice and it was immediately clear they hadn't slept even a minute."

Taj McCullough and Bambale Osby of Ironi Ramat Gan - both 23-year-old Americans (Osby by way of The Democratic Republic of the Congo) - like to think of themselves as following the straight and narrow.

"We don't go out at night before a morning practice," says McCullough, adding unconvincingly, "but it has happened a few weekends that we've stayed awake until sunrise, just to see how long we could stay up."

Omar Sneed of Ironi Ashkelon takes a different approach: "I've never gone to a nightclub after a loss."

And what do they drink? "The American players who come to my club don't drink a lot," said Benzi Simhon, the owner of Rishon Letzion's Soho nightclub.

"Of course they drink occasionally, but it depends on whether there's a practice the next morning. It usually happens on Sundays, after games, because Mondays are usually days off. Toward the end of the season they drink a lot more, to unwind."

Jason Jungreis, general manager of Tel Aviv's iconic expat bar Mike's Place, agrees that foreign players generally enjoy themselves responsibly.

"They're not big drinkers. It's usually a drink or two, with food. They come in packs of three to five players - the place just reminds them of home. The vast majority don't cause any problems."

If the nightlife itself isn't a good enough reason to get the players away from their PlayStations, the local women seem to be.

"Israeli women are very good looking, I was surprised. They're similar to Italians," says Osby, the Ramat Gan forward.

"I have a girlfriend," interjects McCullough, "so the whole thing about women in Israel doesn't interest me as much."

A bit later in the evening, McCullough seems to have changed his mind. At Tel Aviv's Dixie restaurant, he summons the hostess over to the players' table and takes her hand. "I don't see a ring - want to go out with me?" he asks her.

"Slick, very slick," mutters Osby over his hamburger.

Around midnight, three players from the Women's Premier League walk in: Laine Selwin, Tal Noy and Inbar Waxman. "Where you from?" McCullough asks Selwyn. "Florida," she says.

Soon both groups are sitting together, exchanging phone numbers and writing down each other's names to add them as friends on Facebook.

"Can you recommend some good nightclubs to me?" McCullough asks Selwyn. "I don't go to clubs," she replies with a hint of pride.

Noel Felix, a former player with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem, says, "There are women who just chase after players, especially if they're with Maccabi."

In Osby's view, "Israel is like paradise. There is good food here, comfortable weather, beautiful women and great nightspots. It's like a little America."