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4 Israelis sign with Raanana Hertzeliya
Safsal
,06/18/2006 |
The first major signing spree of the offseason comes from Raanana Hertzeliya, which missed the playoffs last season. Ortal Oren is arriving fresh from UCLA, Katia Levitzky jumped ship from Hapoel Tel Aviv, Ornit Shwartz left her captain title in Ramat Hasharon and Chen Nusel left Ramat Hen to play for Tal Natan's team next season.
"I'm very glad that four talented players are putting their trust in the club, management and staff," said Tal Natan. "We will soon complete the roster. You need a deep Israeli roster when you have 3 foreigners. We missed the playoffs in the final second last year, and I want to get back".
"I'm especially pleased that we were able to bring Ornit Shwartz, who grew up in Raanana, and Katia Levitzky who grew up in Hertzeliya, back home," Natan continued, and it's worth to note that most of the Israeli players on last year's team were also from Raanana or Herzeliya. "We have big expectations from Chen & Ortal also – two gifted guards who came make a jump. I promise that along side the team goals, we will our best to improve these players on a personal level."
If you look at Raanana Hertzeliya's last season, which ended way back in March with a disappointing cup semi final loss and 5th place finish in league play, you can't ignore that Raanana Hertzeliya's Israelis got the least amount of playing time compared to the rest of the league. It is unclear which Israeli players, if any, from last year's team, are going to stay for the 06/07 season.
Ortal Oren is coming back to Israel after spending 4 years in UCLA and finishing in style. She won the conference tournament as the Bruins stunned Stanford for the Pac 10 title. Oren is currently in the states and our phone call woke her up, but she was still glad to comment. "I think Raanana Herzeliya will be a good home for me, the main reason was that I wanted to play for Tal," said Oren. "In Israel I always played against Tal, with Kieryat Sharet H.S, and I was always curious what's it gonna be like to play for him. It's a good club, very nice city, and I think that for my first year back it could be a good place for me," she continued. As for expectations, Oren knows everything is up to her. "The expectations are always high, of course that means to be a starter and make the playoffs and win the championship. I need to come to Israel and prove myself, I don't need anybody to make me any promises. Don't need Tal to promise a starting role, or a certain amount of minutes, I have to come over there and earn it by myself."
Ornit Shwartz, Anda Ramat Hasharon's captain for the last 2 years, is leaving the team after two cups and a Europe Cup final four. This season Shwartz averaged a disappointing 4.0 points in 16.2 minutes per game. Shwartz, who turns 27 in 3 days, is returning to her home town after many years away in college, Italy, Ramla, Ramat Hen & Ramat Hasharon.
Katia Levitzky, the talented 20-year-old center who played a big part in Hapoel Tel Aviv's amazing championship with 6.1 ppg on great shooting in the playoffs, chose Raanana Hertzeliya mainly because of the coach. "I'm very happy to work with Tal. I've heard a lot from players he coached" she said. "It's great for me as far as location goes also. It's a little early to talk about expectations but obviously finishing in the top 4, and just fulfilling the team's potential". Levitzky is a member of the Israeli national team.
Another youngster who made a change is Chen Nusel, a member of the under-21 NT who played for Ramat Hen in the last two seasons. Two years ago Nusel was named Newcomer of The Year but saw her production decrease this past season. "I felt like I needed to make a change, I really love Ramat Hen and I'm sure I'll come back in the future but right now I felt like it's in my best interest to make a change," Nusel told 'Safsal'. "I really appreciate Tal as a coach and see Raanana Herzeliya as a place I can fit in with. I expect to be more of a factor, show my ability and of course help the team win. I don't know the full roster yet, which foreigners we'll have but of course we want to go as far as possible."
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