Israelis held in total Czech

Israel dug itself into another hole yesterday and this one was way too deep, but this time it could not find a way out, as the national team fell to their hosts, the Czech Republic, 91-70.

Israel had rallied against Bosnia to save that contest.

Early on, coach Zvika Sherf put all his defensive bulldogs - Guy Pniny, Chris Weston and Matan Naor - on the parquet to emphasize the big D. The problem is you also need to score to win, and that was a mission Israel was unable to accomplish.

The sloppy game on offense and turnovers early on meant that the experiment with starting Weston lasted all of five minutes. After that point, Sherf made a series of substitutions but could never find the right formula.

The Czechs, meanwhile, were perfect hosts and didn't blow out Israel too quickly. Jiri Welsch, the focus of Israel's defensive pressure, dished out three first-quarter assists - he had eight for the night, mainly to Petr Benda, who scored 10 of the team's 18 points to claim an 18-10 lead at the end of the first period. Eventually, Israel could no longer contain Welsch, who matched Benda's output to lead the team with 20 points.

Though Israel was able to keep up in the second quarter, maintaining an eight-point halftime deficit, the Czechs blew open the game in the third period. Walsh took off in the second half, and the Israelis save for Pniny were ineffective, as the Czechs pushed the lead to 54-41, made palatable only by Pniny's three-pointer at the end of the quarter.

The only real question for the fourth quarter was how big the final deficit would be. The team clearly had no legs left to make a serious run, and the Czechs extended their domination under the boards, finishing the game with a 42-23 rebounding advantage.

Israel's saving grace was its perimeter game, going 7-for-13 beyond the arc, but those numbers also signify the team's inability to penetrate the Czech zone. The Czechs held Israel to 41.7 percent shooting from 2-point range while hitting 54.3 percent of their inside shots.