Zvi Sherf ( he, צבי שרף; born December 18, 1951 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel), known almost universally by his nickname Zvika ( he, צביקה), 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 (appr ...

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 ( he, מכבי תל אביב) 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 ...

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 Pinhas "Pini" Gershon ( he, פנחס "פיני" גרשון, born 13 November 1951), is an Israeli former professional basketball player and coach. He won three top-level European-wide club championships as the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv. He w ...

. 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 Israeli League and the

Israeli State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...

titles, Sherf was an assistant coach to

Rudy D'Amico Rudy D'Amico (born August 18, 1940) is a National Basketball Association (NBA) scout, and former college basketball and professional coach. He was the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv, and he led them to the FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague ...

. Sherf became

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

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 ( he, נבחרת ישראל בכדורסל) represents Israel in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Israeli Basketball Association. Israel is currently ranked 33rd in the ...

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 ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

) and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

'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 The 1987 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1987, was the 25th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Greece between 3 and 14 June 1987. Twelve national teams entered the ev ...

(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 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 each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

title with

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

( 1992–93), three

EuroLeague Finals The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe. Title holders * ......1958 Rīgas ASK * 1958� ...

appearances, 10 Israeli League championships, and six

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 The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

Champion: (1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, all with

); * 6×

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 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 each other. The competition was organized by FIBA ...

Champion: ( 1992–93, with

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

); * 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, f ...

: 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 Israeli Jews 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 Sportspeople from Tel Aviv Israeli expatriate basketball people in Poland