No one ever said the European Championships would be easy for the guard-oriented Israelis so it's no revelation that Muli Katzurin's men have been on the receiving end in friendlies leading up to next month's tournament in Sweden.

Israel, after Tuesday night's 83-64 humiliation by Slovenia, are on a four-game losing streak and no doubt doing a little soul searching in the Balkans.

The Israelis were swept aside in all three of three recent friendlies in Strasbourg. The consolation, if there is any with the losses piling up, is that the country is playing against formidable opposition.

Lithuania, bronze medalists at the last Olympics, and Sydney Games silver medal winners France were two of the sides to beat Katzurin and company in the Alsace region while 1999 European champions Italy were the other.

There were some positives to be drawn from the Italy game, which Israel lost 78-71.

Up and coming star Yotam Halperin showed signs of his future brilliance at point guard with his ball-handling and passing, and a 17-point haul. His performance would have sent a message to usual starter Lior Lubin that his place in the line-up is far from guaranteed.

Additionally, Tal Burstein had 17 points. Israel actually led by 17 points in the second quarter. The Azzurri trimmed the deficit to a single point by the interval and then pulled away at the end of the contest to keep Israel winless in France.

Israel were also beaten 88-79 by Lithuania and 94-69 by France.

Alarm bells are ringing after their latest setback, though.

Perhaps most disappointing for Israel in Koper on Tuesday is that Halperin and Burstein failed to register a single point.

Israel, who trailed by as many as 32 points in the third quarter, were simply outplayed in every facet of the game by a team without injured duo Sani Becirovic and Matjaz Smodis.

Derrick Sharp and Yoav Safar poured in 14 points apiece and Yaniv Green contributed 12 while hauling down seven rebounds.

If they will have learned anything from the last defeat, it is that opponents' three point shooters must be identified and closed down.

Bostjan Nachbar, who had 23 points on the night, drained six three-pointers against the Israelis.

The three victories they had earlier this month in the Nahariya Tournament over fellow European Championship finalists Ukraine, Poland and an Israeli B side are long since forgotten.

Katzurin's assessment of the losses is that the games have been excellent for the preparation.

As a confidence building exercise, though, one has to wonder. Israel are scheduled to play Slovenia in a second friendly on Wednesday night.