Israel has made a poor start at Eurobasket 2013 - losing all three of their matches so far.
There was disappointment all round as Israel was beaten 75-71 by Great Britain in over-time. This was followed by a 74-67 defeat against Ukraine and then a 82-63 loss against France.
Now Israel must conquer Belgium on Sunday and Germany on Monday in their final group A matches. Coach Arik Shivek is confident his team can raise their game and reach round two of the competition.
He said: “I think that the team is improving as the tournament has progressed.
"We are always trying to find solutions, and even though it might not always seem that way, the players really take the defeats to heart and really want to win.
“In the last EuroBasket we also began the tournament 0-3 and went on to win our final two group games. I told the players that as someone who believes in God I am thankful that our fate is still in our hands. We know that if we play well for 80 minutes we can progress.
“I feel that the players will be able to lift themselves in the next two games."
To get more from Life, click here to sign up for our free Life newsletter.