March Madness, Jewish hoops style

                                     Here's a dose of March Madness with a Jewish spin.

The 18th annual Maccabiah Games -- sometimes referred to as “the Jewish Olympics” (as long as the IOC doesn't raise a big stink)  -- are slated for July 12-23, 2009 in Israel. 

Youth teams and junior teams  from  many  countries participate, but the top-level teams are in the “open” division.

On Monday, March 16, the United States announced its open men’s roster, and there are some interesting Bay Area connections – as well as some people you can keep an eye on during the NCAA Tournament that begins this week.

1) Todd Golden, (RIGHT) who played four years at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, is expected to be one of the stars of the U.S. team. The 6-foot-3 guard currently plays professionally for 

Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli Premier League. Last season as a senior, Golden helped lead the Gaelsinto the NCAA Tournament (with a 25-7 overall record) by averaging 7.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, while playing and starting in all 32 games. Golden became the career all-time wins leader at Saint Mary’s, compiling an 86-43 record over his four-year career. He is the only Saint Mary’s basketball player to make two NCAA appearances.  (Note: St. Mary’s was denied a spot in this year’s NCAA Tournament despite a 26-6 overall record; the Gaels instead accepted a bid to the NIT).

2) Dan Grunfeld, a 6-foot-6 guard-forward, is also on the team. Grunfeld, who played at Stanford through 2006, is the son of Ernie Grunfeld, the president of the Washington Wizards and former NBA player who played in the 9th Maccabiah in the summer of 1973. Dan Grunfeld went undrafted after his Stanford career, and has since bounced around a few European leagues. He signed with the New York Knicks in September for training camp, but was released a few weeks later.

3) The head coach of the U.S. team is Bruce Pearl, head coach of the University of Tennessee men’s team. His Volunteers got a No. 9 seed and open play in the NCAA Men’s Tournament on Thursday in the East Region against No. 8 seed Oklahoma State.

4) Several players on the U.S. squad will be involved in March Madness, so watch for them: Jon Scheyer, (Duke), Pearl Steven (Tennessee), Derrick Glazer (Arizona State).Scheyer, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, is the best of the bunch, averaging 15.8 points per game (third-best for Duke) along with team-high figures of 2.8 assists per game and a 38.8 percent accuracy from 3-point range.

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