Tal Burstein

Tal Burstein

Position	Shooting Guard Small Forward Point Guard
Height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight	210 lb (95 kg)
League	Israeli Super League Euroleague Adriatic
Team	Maccabi Tel Aviv
Number	11
Born	February 19, 1980 (1980-02-19) Petah Tikva, Israel
Nationality	Israel
Pro career	1997–present
Career history	Bnei-Herzliya junior team (1997–2000) Maccabi Tel-Aviv (2000–2009) Baloncesto Fuenlabrada (2009–2010) Maccabi Tel-Aviv (2010–present)

Burstein with Maccabi's former coach, Pini Gershon

Tal Burstein (Hebrew: טל בורשטיין‎)(born February 19, 1980) is an Israeli professional basketball player.

He can play at the point guard position and also as a swingman. He is 198 cm (6 ft 6 in) in height. He has also been named as one of the best Israeli basketball players ever. He currently plays with the pro club Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Early life

Burstein is Jewish, and was born in Petach Tikva, Israel.

Pro career

Tal Burstein began his basketball career with the Bnei-Herzliya junior team. In the 1997–1998 season, he made his professional debut and he was named the Israeli League Rookie of the Year. He became a team captain in the 1999–2000 season. In the 2001–02 season, he led the Israeli League in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 49.4%.

Since 2000–01, he has played with Maccabi Tel-Aviv. He became a starter in his first season in Tel Aviv. With the club, Burstein has won 8 Israeli National Championships and 6 Israeli State Cups. He has also won 3 Euroleague championships with Maccabi, the 2001 Suproleague championship, and the Euroleague championships in the years 2004 and 2005. After the 2008–009 season, Burstein left Maccabi Tel Aviv and signed with the Spanish team Fuenlabrada. A year later, Burstein returned to Maccabi on a three-year contract.

Israeli national basketball team

Burstein has played for all of the Israeli junior national team's and also for the senior men's Israeli national basketball team. In August 2000, he was the captain of the under-20 national team, which won a silver medal at the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship in Ohrid, Macedonia. In August 2001, Burstein was a member of the Israeli Under-22 national team at the FIBA Under-21 World Championship in Saitama, Japan, where his team finished in 7th place.

He also played with the senior men's team, the Israeli national basketball team at the 2003 European Championship in Sweden, where his team finished in 7th place and at the 2005 European Championship. As of 2008, Burstein was a captain on Israel's national team. He plays as the national team's first shooting guard and he can also play as a point guard if needed.

External links

• Euroleague.net profile
• http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/basketball-rejuvenated-veteran-guard-tal-burstein-takes-over-the-reins-of-the-national-team-1.306634