Zvi Sherf (; born December 18, 1951, in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel), known almost universally by his nickname Zvika (), is an Israeli former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and professional

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

Coaching career

Sherf played basketball with the

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

youth teams, starting at age 12. By age 16, Sherf was playing for Maccabi South Tel Aviv (the club's second side), and was sent to a coaching course, along with fellow future Israeli basketball coach Pini Gershon. By age 20, Sherf was coaching the

youth teams, and by age 25, he was coaching Maccabi South Tel Aviv, leading it to his first championship. In the 1980–81 season, when

won the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

, the Israeli League and the Israeli State Cup titles, Sherf was an assistant coach to Rudy D'Amico. Sherf became

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

in the 1983–84 season, and stayed in that role through the 1985–86 season. In 1984, (at the age of 33), he became the senior men's

Israeli national basketball team The Israel men's national basketball team () represents Israel in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Israeli Basketball Association. Israel is currently ranked 39th in the FIBA World Ranking. Israel has qualifi ...

head coach. His first Israeli national team coaching tenure (which lasted three years), saw two

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

appearances (

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

) and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

's historic 7th place finish at the 1986 FIBA World Basketball Championship. Sherf's tenure as national team head coach ended after what was perceived as a poor performance at EuroBasket 1987 (11th position), but Sherf later returned as the team's head coach for the years 1991-97. In 2005, Sherf was again appointed head coach of the

, and on January 1, 2008, he was appointed head coach of

. Sherf's coaching career includes a

Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...

title with

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

( 1992–93), three

EuroLeague Finals The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is European professional club basketball pyramid, the highest level tier, and most important professional sports, professional sports club, club bask ...

appearances, 10 Israeli League championships, and six Israeli State Cup titles (all with

). On April 10, 2018, Sherf returned to Maccabi Rishon LeZion for a third stint, replacing Shmulik Brener. On November 26, 2018, Sherf parted ways with Rishon LeZion.

Honors and awards

Israeli titles

* 10× Israeli Super League Champion: (1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, all with

); * 6× Israeli State Cup Winner: (1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, all with

European honors and titles

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...

Champion: ( 1992–93, with

); * 3× EuroLeague Finalist: ( 1986–87, 1988–89, 2007–08 with

); *

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...

: third-place ( 1990–91, with

). * Russian Cup Winner: (2010–11, with Spartak St. Petersburg)

References

External links

EuroLeague Profile

Tzahevet Profile

Zvi Sherf is the new Israeli NT Coach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherf, Zvi 1951 births Living people Aris B.C. coaches BC Dynamo Moscow coaches BC Spartak Saint Petersburg coaches Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. coaches Israeli basketball coaches Jewish Israeli sportspeople Israeli expatriate basketball people in Russia Israeli expatriate basketball people in Greece Israeli expatriate basketball people in France Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Limoges CSP coaches Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. coaches Makedonikos B.C. coaches P.A.O.K. BC coaches Basketball players from Tel Aviv Israeli expatriate basketball people in Poland