Stumme Brüder – Alba Berlin’s Israeli newcomers, basketball Bundesliga – basketball

If it is up to Alba’s Israeli newcomer Yovel Zoosman (23), the public appearances with fellow player and compatriot Tamir Blatt (24) will be taciturn affairs. Not because the two basketball players had nothing to say to each other, on the contrary. Zoosman and Blatt are best friends and have known each other since childhood. Zoosman says: “We feel like brothers. We don’t have to talk to each other, eye contact is enough.”

“Secretly big” and the defensive

At Alba Berlin they hope that this also applies to understanding on the pitch. Even if Zoosman is not going to be the point guard and ball distributor sheet’s preferred pass station. Because Zoosman, 1.97 meters tall, has its advantages above all on the defensive. Even if he says: “I think I’m a pretty good defender. That was my main job at Maccabi (Tel Aviv, editor’s note). But I want to show that I also have my strengths offensively.”

Where the main focus of Tamir Blatt’s game is almost inevitable. Its sizes vary, depending on which website you put your trust in. Alba Berlin, who signed the sheet last season to park it immediately for another year at his old club Hapoel Jerusalem, says 1.78 meters. Elsewhere, however, well-meaning 1.83 meters can also be read. Above all, however, one in Berlin hopes that Tamir Blatt lives up to its name, which translates from Hebrew as “secretly large”.

Ambitious goals

On the other hand, the footsteps that Tamir Blatt follows within his own family are quite large. Father David, who was born in the United States, played himself and was promoted to world class, primarily as a coach. As coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers around superstar LeBron James, he made it to the NBA finals in 2015. But Yovel Zoosman’s basketball story is also closely linked to his father: “I started when I was six. My dad went to the pitch with me over and over again. Then it clicked, and from then on I was captivated by the game. “

It is a passion that has become the purpose of life. Always accompanied by Tamir Blatt, roommate since the first joint appearance in a youth national team. And always accompanied by ambition. In Israel, basketball competes with soccer for the most popular national sport. The top clubs in the country are also among the top clubs in Europe. Zoosman says, “At Maccabi, the goal has always been to be number one.” So it’s no wonder that he also transfers this ambition to Alba Berlin: “I want to be cup winners and champions and get into the top 8 of the Euro-League. That is a very nice announcement, but the competition is about doing the best want.”

Enthusiastic about the trainer

The fact that Zoosman opted for the Alba offer in the summer was also due to the players, who have long since left Berlin. “I have the feeling that so many good players have developed here. Players like Rokas Giedraitis (2018-2020 with Alba, now with Baskonia; editor’s note), Simone Fontecchio (2020-2021 with Alba, meanwhile too at Baskonia; editor’s note) or Martin Hermannsson (2018-2020 at Alba, now at Valencia; editor’s note). “

When Zoosman arrived in Berlin, Alba’s trainer Israel Gonzalez was particularly enthusiastic. After just two weeks of training, he felt that he had improved, said Zoosman. Even if his friend Tamir Blatt says: “A system is being played here that is completely different from what we have had before. It will of course take some time.”

Getting used to it in Berlin will also take time. Both Blatt and Zoosman are living outside their homeland of Israel for the first time. At least Yovel Zoosman came with specific ideas: “I’ve heard that beer costs less than water in Germany,” he says, immediately putting the disappointment with the truth into perspective: “I like beer, but don’t drink to be drunk . “

Should the last beer ever be bad, his best friend Tamir Blatt is certainly not far away. And finally he understands him without words.

Broadcast: rbb24, October 7th, 2021, 10 p.m.

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Stand: 07.10.2021, 19:13