Jeff Taylor has been covering European basketball since 1997, when he first worked on the television program SLAM. He has been a basketball writer and broadcaster since that time, traveling the continent and covering the game in depth for FIBA Europe since its launch in 2003.

Gershon was appointed coach of Bulgaria at the end of 2007 and made his "underdog" players believe they would qualify for EuroBasket 2009.

The Bulgarians finished second in Group A behind Serbia with Italy third, Finland fourth and Hungary fifth, and that put Gershon's team in next year's Final Round in Poland.

The 57-year-old says of the forthcoming group games: "It could be better, but it could be worse.

"We got an awful draw for the (EuroBasket 2009) qualifications, but we did our job.

"I hope we can do the same as underdogs in this group. We should play good basketball."

Gershon is a coach who is humble and respectful of opponents when he needs to be, yet he is never short of confidence.

His job with Bulgaria has gone something like this.

After learning of their qualifying round opponents for this summer's (2008) games, he used the word ‘possible' and not ‘impossible'.

He planted seeds of belief in his players' minds and watered those seeds at regular intervals with forecasts of a successful summer.

By the time his players ran onto the floor for their qualifiers, they weren't just Bulgarian basketball players. They were confident Bulgarian basketball players.

Right now, he is planting new seeds of belief.

"We need to win at least a game to qualify for the next phase," he says.

"It won't be easy, because Poland are the hosts and it will be very difficult against their team.

"The other two teams are better than us, but you know, you may be outsider and with God's help to win, everything is possible."

Divine intervention is how many in Bulgaria considered the arrival of Gershon to the national team.

The Israeli was attracted to the country because it was the birthplace of his grandfather.

While he recently took the helm of Maccabi Tel Aviv for the third time in his career, Gershon will often think of the EuroBasket in the coming months.

"It will be my first European Championship for me as a head coach, so it will be a great challenge for me," he says.

"I hope I will have good start. I know the Bulgarians played with Turkey and Lithuania in their last EuroBasket in Serbia, but I believe that these two teams are very different than in 2005.

"Lithuania has some great players, who play for the best clubs in the world. They are one of the greatest teams in Europe now.

"Turkey played very well in the qualifications. They always have had good and very talented players, but if we play better than last summer, we may believe that something good will happen."

Gershon's approach allows his players go into games loose and with no pressure.

He also has a knack for getting into the head of his opponents.

"We are going to the EuroBasket as outsiders, underdogs, so it will be easier for us," he says.

"We have no such pressure as the other teams. It will be difficult for other teams to play against a free-from-pressure team.

"There is a lot of time. I hope my players will play more at their clubs, so they will gather in the summer better than last summer.

"We showed we play good as a team, so I suppose, we can do it better."