TEL AVIV, Israel — While Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd used all of his healthy scholarship players Monday, he wasn’t able to get a look at either freshman guard KJ Lewis or forward Henri Veesaar.
Lewis was held out because of a foot strain and ankle sprain, according to UA athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie, while Veesaar also missed Monday’s 124-77 win because of a flu-like illness. Veesaar had returned to full speed in practices after injuring his ankle last month while playing in the FIBA U20 European Championships for Estonia.
Both could be back for UA’s next game, on Thursday at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Lewis warmed up for Monday’s game at Hadar Yosef Arena, and Kokoskie said he would play Thursday against what is expected to be a collection of United Arab Emirates players on Thursday. The Wildcats are also likely to play the Lebanon national team on Saturday, though neither game has been announced officially.
Wildcat stopover
Already planning a Mediterranean summer trip when he heard the Wildcats would be passing through Israel, Tucsonan Ray Adkins added a new booking.
“A commuter flight, basically,” Adkins said.
Adkins blew into Tel Aviv from Ireland via London on Monday and plans to stick around for two more days to see Masada National Park and Jerusalem. Then he’ll head back to Ireland.
Flag bearers
National anthems for both Israel and the United States were played before the game but there was one problem that came as no surprise. It was that Hadar Yosef Arena had no American flag to look toward.
So two members of UA’s traveling party, Paul Volpe and Mike Adams, each held an upper corner of the American flag and faced the stands while the teams stood lined up across opposite sides of the court.
‘New’ unis
While the Wildcats played in their standard navy road jerseys Monday, there was a subtle difference. The jerseys were “stock,” or uncustomized, ones that the Wildcats had to order from Nike since their customized uniforms are not yet available.
Equipment manager Brian Brigger said the Wildcats also have a version of their home whites that are accented with red but that he didn’t know if or when they would be worn. Arizona is scheduled to play exhibition games on Thursday and Saturday before returning to Tucson.
Another busy day
Not only did the Wildcats hold a pregame shootaround Monday, but they also spent an hour listening to a panel of speakers on Israel’s high-tech scene, toured Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market and picked up some lunch in the process.
The high-tech “summit,” organized by Athletes for Israel founder Daniel Posner and held in front of both UA and Kansas State players, featured a discussion about Israeli startups such as Waze and another about an organization that aids water insecurity in Africa.
But, predictably, the players perked up the most to watch Kansas State’s Tylor Perry put on a headset for a “visualization” exercise involving free-throw shooting. Perry struggled to “hit” shots on the screen, telling the assembled UA and K-State players: “I was thinking about my brain!”
Afterward, at the Carmel Market, each player was given coupon cards allowing them to pick up small plates at various stalls at the market, while a team meal was also held at 3 p.m., the standard four hours before game time.
Charge!
The fanfare featuring six notes and a prompt to yell “charge!,” sometimes repeated several times is usually meant for fans to cheer and spark a rally, often during a baseball game.
In the United States it is, anyway.
On Monday, a Hadar Yosef Arena staffer blared it after an Israel Select player picked up a charge from the Wildcats.
