Deni Avdija's father coveting the Israel State Cup with Bnei Herzliya / News - Basketnews.com

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Bnei Herzliya are facing Hapoel Tel Aviv for the Israel State Cup on Thursday evening, as both squads managed to pull off upsets by knocking down Hapoel Holon and Maccabi Tel Aviv, respectively.Ahead of the title match, Deni Avdija's father, Zufer, who is also Herzliya’s sports director and general manager, spoke to The Sport Rabbi about the club’s surge this season after having almost been relegated less than a year ago.

Deni Avdija

Team:Washington WizardsPosition:SG, SFAge:21Height:200 cmBirth place:IsraelProfileNewsStatistics

Herzliya's head coach, Oren Aharoni, is in his first year with the club after a decade with Maccabi Tel Aviv's youth department.“He was a player when I was a player,” Zufer Avdija commented.

“He coached my son Deni for 4-5 years and when Eldad brought his name up as an option he went to the top of my list. I know him well and was not only coaching at the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth department, but he is also doing the same for the Youth Israel National teams as well.”

This season marks the first that Zufer Avdija has taken on the role of sports director with the task of putting together a quality squad that can compete at the highest levels of Israeli basketball. So far, the team sits atop the league standings and will also have a chance to win the State Cup.“I came to Herzliya to help the club out and enjoy and if I didn’t enjoy what I was doing I wouldn’t stay one second more in the role. I have been coaching for 23-24 years now in the youth ranks and was an assistant coach with senior teams. I found the right place at the right time to come and help."With the decision to go ahead with five foreigners, Avdija looked at how he could best strengthen the roster, without having any star players at disposal. “Theoretically, if I relied on Scottie Wilbekin just like Maccabi Tel Aviv does, I don’t really know what type of club I would have. If he gets up in the morning and is not well or things aren’t going for him, I don’t want to have to pray to figure out who will replace him," he comments.

"Our team has no ego and I don’t see any one player who just wants to chase after baskets. We have a dominant big man in Chinanu Onukau who also knows that he shouldn’t try to do things that he doesn’t know how to," Avdija affirms.

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