The Israeli men’s national team, lead by Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija, was officially eliminated from the EuroBasket tournament on Thursday. The Fiba-run tournament saw the field cut down to 16 teams on Thursday and the Israeli team did not make the cut.
The elimination came after an 88-77 loss to the Czech Republic national team. Israel ends their run in the tournament with five games played and a record of 2-3 in those five games.
🙌 That's how you show up in a do-or-die game. Hruban gets 25, Satoransky flirts with triple-double, Czech Republic grab the last ticket to Berlin! #EuroBasket
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) September 8, 2022
Deni Avdija finishes tournament with another inspiring performance
Despite the loss, Wizards forward Deni Avdija once again gave fans plenty to be excited about for the upcoming season. He finished his final game before returning to the Wizards with a double-double, his second in the five game stretch.
Avdija had 12 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds over the course of 37 minutes on the court. His 11 assists is more impressive when you consider he only turned the ball over twice in the game.
11 assists is one less than Avdija had in the first four games combined. His near triple double performance wasn’t enough to cover up his poor shooting night from behind the arc, something he has struggled with early in his NBA career. He shot 1-7 (14.3 percent) from deep in the game.
Yam Madar led Israel in scoring with 16 points in the game. Behind him was Tomer Ginat with 15 points.
On the opposite side, it was a couple of famiiliar faces for fans of the Washington Wizards. The Czech Republic team was lead by two former Wizards that fans are sure to remember very well, although each for different reasons.
Tomáš Satoranský nearly had a triple double himself on the Czech Republic side. He finished with 14 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds. Sato has spent parts of four seasons on the Wizards roster, most recently during the 2021-22 season. In total, the well rounded guard played 232 games for Washington.
The other familiar face, who fans will remember less fondly, is Jan Vesely. Vesely was a first round draft pick of the Wizards in 2011. He is well known as one of the worst lottery picks in recent Wizards history.
He has bounced back from that part of his career well and grown into a solid international player. He filled the stat sheet in this game with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Still, it was all about Avdija and his outlook for Washington Wizards fans. Even though he was unable to bring his team into the next round of the tournament, this game concluded a very promising five game stretch for the 21 year old forward.