Breaking all the charts: David Musis is the next big thing in Israeli basketball
David Musis barely played until age 15, and today he is the tall hope of the Israel national team. He is considered a "unicorn," and next season he will be in college. The center who grew up in the nursery that produced Lior Eliyahu wants to lead the Israel national team to the podium, and there is also a comparison to Deni Avdija.
In the first two European championships for youth national teams in which David Musis played, he showed some of the potential he has, but the breakthrough had not yet arrived. Among other things, the versatile big man had 0 three-point attempts in two European championships (cadets and youth), which is quite normal for an inside player.
In the past season, in the youth and senior teams of Ramat HaSharon, Musis averaged 3 three-point attempts per game in the youth team, which he made at a 40 percent clip, with him shooting much more in some games.
This development, which we are expected to see with our own eyes at the youth European Championship that will kick off tomorrow in Italy, is only part of the reasons why for many, Musis is the most exciting thing to have emerged in Israeli basketball in recent years.
"David was in a combined program during this year," says his agent Avi Even, who also works with him personally, "he trained with Ramat HaSharon, and in the same breath also worked in a very professional, organized program with Hanoch Mintz and Itai. This does not come from nowhere. Hanoch has been working with him for many years. There was a work plan with definitions, and at Ramat HaSharon they worked with him very much physically. The kid worked, we identified the potential and worked on these things. We believe in him, and it was important to work with him like this."
Musis (18, 2.10m) is truly a kind of Cinderella story. Until three years ago, few knew him, after he grew up in the Hapoel Holon youth department without playing too much. "In the summer between 9th and 10th grade, Hanoch Mintz approached me and told me he wanted to bring a kid to our department in Ramat HaSharon."
"I told him with pleasure, just bring me some game of his so I can see what it's about, he told me he doesn't really have one because he didn't really play," says Guy Kantor, his coach at Ramat HaSharon, "he was 1.97m, a talented player and we saw there was something there. He wasn't at the place he is today, and Hanoch always saw those things he had from a very early stage."
"He has been with us in the department for three years, coaches see that players improve something every season," continues Kantor, "the most prominent thing about him is that he improves in every practice. It's at that level. He is on an improvement curve that I don't remember seeing before. Beyond the fact that he grew about 13 centimeters, and beyond the work with our physical trainers Segev and Kobi, this is someone who made a crazy physical improvement. For three years we see the curve, and beyond the talent that makes me catch myself saying wow, the most impressive thing is this improvement curve."
Musis is one of the tall players defined as "unicorns." Huge players capable of doing a lot on the court. 23.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game last season. "He handles the ball very well, his shooting is getting better and better. When he arrived to us he barely shot from three, it seemed far to him. Today it's automatic, in the youth league he had an outstanding and exceptional season. We tried to play with him facing the basket, there was an instruction that if he is in an open court to push the ball with a dribble. He is very, very versatile," adds Kantor.
Even, who worked for years with super talents at Maccabi Tel Aviv, says: "I had the privilege of working with Deni (Avdija) and Zoosman, and Maier and so many players on the court. My perspective is a bit different. I've gone through Israeli and foreign players. I can say that David is a very special, talented player, with a huge upside, with hunger and intelligence. The support system that accompanies him helps him, and you see an improvement curve. Deni had a very high-quality support system at the time, from a very young age. And David also has a good support system."
In the near future, Musis is expected to be presented as a player for the modest Florida Atlantic from the college league (NCAA). His decision to go there was made in cooperation with Mintz, who, as you recall, was the one who guided Lior Eliyahu, Even, Musis and his family.
They were looking for a college that would suit him in terms of the program on one hand, and on the other hand could give him a chance from the first moment, with him expected to continue to climb to higher places in the future if things go according to plan. This decision came despite the desire of all the top teams in Israel, as well as respectable European teams, to sign him.
"When we say colleges it's a title, but the difference within the programs is huge," says Kantor, "to say that someone went to college compared to someone else is an incorrect comparison. It depends on the project itself, on how they will develop him, in what position he will play, how patient the coach will be with things he needs to learn. If this is the thing that suits him, then it can be a great choice. There were many teams in Israel that would have been happy to sign him, and give him many options. If it's the right college, it can be a great choice."
Starting tomorrow, he will lead the youth national team as one of the key players who will try to win a medal for the first time at the prestigious youth European Championship. Another goal is an attempt to reach the U19 World Championship. "Pressure and expectations are something that as time goes on, will accompany him more and more. From my acquaintance with him, he does it very nicely, doesn't let the noise interfere. This is a European Championship with good teams, I am sure the opposing teams will focus on him. It also depends on the players next to him. I really believe and hope that he will have an impressive, very good championship," says Kantor.
Even is sure that although the championship is important, it is not the one that will determine his future. "Today the scouting systems are so good that everyone knows everyone. It's an important showcase, but next year he is in college, whoever doesn't see him at the championship, will see him there."
This week, senior officials of the Basketball Association admitted that they wanted Musis to be part of the Israel national team in the upcoming August window of the World Championship qualifiers, but this is not expected to happen due to college. "Today all over the world, in every national team, you see one or two players who are young, with upside, that they start preparing," says Even, "for David to be in the Israel national team is a great honor. The very fact that he will train with players at the highest level can contribute to him. It is clear that he still has a long way to go, and it is clear that he still has a lot to improve to be at his best level. This is truly a good and special player."
Kantor is sure that Musis's moment in the senior national team will come, and perhaps soon: "At the level of potential and the level he is at today, and at the level of his improvement curve, I am convinced that he will be in the inside positions carrying the national team in the coming years. He has a lot to improve, but in the not-too-distant future, I am convinced that he will be significant and more in the national teams."
