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ILSP Columns

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11 stories
The Washington Wizards hosted their media day for the 2022-23 NBA Season. Images featuring Cory Kispert, Deni Avdija, Kristaps Porziņģis, Bradley Beal, Kyle Kuzma, Will Barton, Rui
Israelis AbroadColumn

Blazers coach Nori's first season seen hinging on Deni Avdija's leap

ONE reports that NBA analyst Andrew Carlson believes new Portland head coach Micah Nori's debut season will be shaped above all by how far Deni Avdija progresses, alongside Ja Morant's integration and a short-term contract that leaves little room for error.

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Bloomfield Stadium16
Israeli FootballColumn

Driks warns Maccabi Tel Aviv: win tonight isn't enough, Sheriff are no pushover

Club legend Eli Driks tells ONE that Maccabi Tel Aviv must both beat Sheriff Tiraspol and go on to reach the league phase proper, cautioning against writing off a Moldovan side with real Champions League pedigree.

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הפוחל חולון כדורסל במגרש הבית
Israeli BasketballColumn

Israeli basketball's American alumni are chasing their way back to Europe

A breakout NBA Summer League for former Hapoel Holon guard Darin Green Jr., and Nathan Mensah's restless post-Maccabi Tel Aviv travels, are the clearest local threads in this summer's scramble of Americans hunting a EuroLeague-level home.

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Ben Saraf in EuroCup action for ratiopharm Ulm in October 2024
Israeli BasketballColumn

Israel's second basketball wave is real — and ninth place is still ninth place

Saraf, Wolf and Sharp closed a Summer League fortnight inside NBA organisations while the U20s turned a Greece collapse into consecutive routs. Today's ninth-place game against Lithuania measures neither medals nor mock drafts, but the floor of a system.

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Aerial view of the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa
Israeli FootballColumn

Israeli football has learned how to sell — now the fees have to become real

A goalkeeper bought for a reported €100,000 heading out at a reported €3m, a confirmed €1.6m record in Jerusalem, a champion keeper coming home for small change: this summer's trading looks like strategy. Whether it is a model depends on what is confirmed — and repeated.

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The illuminated interior of Arena Stožice in Ljubljana during an international sporting event
Israeli BasketballColumn

Israel U20s answered a survival game with grown-up control

The 84–59 score mattered because it preserved Division A status; the way Israel built it showed how quickly a youth team can reset its identity after elimination.

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Yellow-and-navy boots and three footballs trace a delivery route from the touchline toward goal
Israeli FootballColumn

Yehezkel made Maccabi’s width a Super Cup weapon

Three assists told the story, but the more important lesson was how one wide outlet kept changing the point of attack—even after Maccabi Tel Aviv went down to ten men.

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Lionel Messi walks onto the pitch for Argentina against Egypt at the 2026 World Cup
World Cup 2026Column

Messi's third final would measure reinvention, not just longevity

Cafu's record captures extraordinary durability; Messi's route from 2014 creator to 2022 scorer and 2026 playmaker explains why Argentina can still build around him at 39.

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Lamine Yamal playing for Spain in 2025
World Cup 2026Column

The final is not Messi against Yamal. It is a contest over where risk lives

Argentina can make Spain’s possession uncomfortable; Spain can make Argentina defend choices rather than players. Sunday’s final will be decided by the spaces around its two headline names.

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Anthony Gordon with England before the World Cup match against Ghana in June 2026
World Cup 2026Column

England protected a lead until they stopped protecting the game

Gordon’s goal rewarded Tuchel’s shape, but retreat invited Argentina to keep returning. Fernández and Martínez exposed the difference between managing a score and controlling a match.

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Israeli Fans during the basketball game between Israel and Greece for Eurobasket 2009. [Israel 80-106 Greece, Eurobasket 2009, Poland] Israel 80-106 Greece
ILSP ColumnsColumn

Five tactical questions that will shape the next sporting week

From Be’er Sheva’s European rest defence to Gloukh’s occupation of Ajax’s half-spaces, these are the details that will decide more than the next headline.

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