Miki Berkovich

Miki Berkovich

Medal record
Competitor for  Israel
Men’s Basketball
European Championships
Silver	1979 Italy	Team Competition

Moshe "Miki" Berkovich (Mickey Berkowitz) (Hebrew: משה "מיקי" ברקוביץ'‎; born 17 February 1954 in Kfar Sava, Israel) is a retired Israeli basketball player. He was a 6' 4" shooting guard.

Career

Berkovich is recognized by many Israelis as the best Israeli basketball player who ever played. Berkovich joined Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club's junior team in 1965, and adult team in 1971. With Maccabi, he won 19 national championship titles and 17 national cups.

In 1974 took young NT to the fourth place in European Championship and was the leading scorer of the tournament.

In 1975 played for UNLV in the United States, but returned to Maccabi after just one year.

In 1977 helped Maccabi to win its first European Championship, defeating Mobilgirgi Varese 78:77 in the final held in Pionir Hall, Belgrade and CSKA Moscow 91:79 in semifinal group game held in Virton, Belgium , an achievement that produced Tal Brody's famous sentence "We are on the map, not only in basketball".

In 1979 Berkovich was part of the Israeli national team which finished second (behind the Soviet national team) at the European Championship in Turin. Berkovich was named tournament MVP. Even though he received offers from the New Jersey Nets and the Atlanta Hawks from the NBA after the tournament, Maccabi management insisted that he stayed in the team, and so he did.

In 1981 the second European Championship for Maccabi, against another Italian team, Sinudyne Bologna. Berkovich scored the winning basket from Moti Aroesti's assist, setting the score to 80:77. There were no three point shots back then so the Italian could only score a two point basket and Maccabi won 80:79.

Berkovich's career in Maccabi came to the end in 1988, when he and Aroesti joined Maccabi Rishon LeZion. Later he played for Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Berkovich retired from basketball in 1995, after he retired from basketball he wrote an autobiography book called "Born to Win". He went on to become the owner of the Ramat HaSharon basketball team, and both of his sons played for the team at the time. Later he became the Director of Basketball Operations of Ironi Naharia, but left the team after just one year.

In 2005, he was voted the 35th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.^[1]

In February 2008, he was named as one of the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors by a select panel. He was honored at this season's Euroleague Final Four in Madrid.

References

1. ^ גיא בניוביץ' (June 20, 1995). "הישראלי מספר 1: יצחק רבין – תרבות ובידור". Ynet. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3083171,00.html. Retrieved July 10, 2011. 

• Profile
• Euroleague.net 50 greatest contributors
• Jewish Basketball Hall of Fame
• Career basketpedya.com

Persondata
Name	Berkovich, Miki
Alternative names
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Date of birth	17 February 1954
Place of birth
Date of death
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