The Israeli expectation, the Israeli collapse and the Israeli disappointment that the 2022 European Championship entails will not be able to be erased or forgotten in the near future. Guy Goodes’ team left their fans with quite a bit of frustration, anger, criticism and with their heads in their hands after a bitter campaign that ended in a glorious crash.
However, between the cracks of the thick smoke left at the end of the mass chaos, a ray of light continues to penetrate, the likes of which has never been seen for the blue and white basketball – Danny Avdia. The Israeli star arrived at his first senior tournament with the team, erased the question marks that appeared under two difficult years in the Washington Wizards and proved that he continues his pursuit of the history of Israeli basketball.
Avdia recorded a tremendous tournament with averages of 14.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 33 minutes on average and was the fourth player in the group stage with averages of at least 14.5, 7.5 and 3.5, this when next to him in the limited list only Nikola Jokic, Janis Antetokounmpo and Luka appear Doncic. Avdia opened the championship with a big double-double of 23 points and 15 rebounds against Finland and closed the championship with an equally impressive double-double, which almost became a triple-double, when he provided 12 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds against the Czech Republic.
The 21-year-old Avdia broke into the world of the senior national teams by storm, just as he did in the youth and reserve national teams of Israel and this is a step that is not taken for granted, even for an NBA player. All the stars of the current national teams had to make this transition, but it seems that whether it is related to the level of the team around him, his maturity or other parameters, Avdia’s process was smoother and more impressive than the few giants who did it before him. Now, a moment after the disappointment, it’s time to hold on to hope and for that we will recall the first tournaments of the stars of the current European teams.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Debut tournament: World Championship 2014
age: 20
Personal statistics: 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 16 minutes
Group result: Relegation in the round of 16, ninth place
The background for the premiere: A year before that, the Greek Freak was selected in the draft, and after a relatively lame debut season in the NBA, in which he recorded 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists, he went up for the first time in his life to represent the senior team of Greece, when a year before that he had a solid campaign in the reserve team. Yannis struggled in his first steps in the team, to which he returned to a major tournament only in the 2019 World Championship, when he became the first reigning MVP to reach the tournament, but had a disappointing campaign in relation to his true greatness with 14.8 points and 8.8 rebounds on average. Today we already know that national team basketball is also small for Yanis, but it seems that only in the current European Championship did he really manage to break free and prove it beyond any doubt.
Nikola Jokic
Debut tournament: World Championship 2016
age: 21
Personal statistics: 9.1 points, 6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 23 minutes
Group result: Elimination in the final against the USA
The background for the premiere: Jokic came to the tournament before the huge breakthrough in the best league in the world, but in Serbia he was already a star, when in the local Mega Basket he averaged 19.2 points and 11.3 rebounds per game in the season preceding the tournament, in which he also won the MVP of the Adriatic League. In the championship itself, he waited on the bench while Miroslav Radolica and Milan Maccaban started in the five, I wonder if he believed at those times that in a not too long time he would become one of the best in the world, win the title of MVP twice in a row and redraw what we used to think about the center position ?
Luka Doncic
Debut tournament: European Championship 2017
age: 18
Personal statistics: 14.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 29 minutes
Group result: winning gold
The background for the premiere: At the end of a good Euroleague season in which he recorded 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists, Luka made his debut in Slovenia and blew up all over Europe. After surrendering to Israel in the preparation game in Tel Aviv, the amazing teenager together with Goran Dragic took the modest Slovenia to a crazy and historic victory especially in a tournament in which they did not drop a single game. By the way, it’s easy to forget, but Luka stated that he would play for Slovenia only in September 2016, this after a three-way chase that took place after him, when alongside Slovenia, Spain and Serbia also tried to recruit him.
The championship in the summer of 2017 was only the beginning of one of the greatest seasons for a single player in Europe, when later Doncic lifted the Euroleague title, in the season in which he was crowned the youngest MVP in history, he also picked up the MVP of the Spanish league, which of course he won just before who was selected in the summer of 2018 in third place in the draft. It is already possible to determine – Doncic will be remembered as one of the greatest national team players of all time.
We have touched so far on the three biggest stars from the European production, which are actually three of the biggest superstars in the entire basketball world. In a realistic and realistic discourse it is clear to all of us that Avdia will not come close to the above legends in the mirror of his entire career, there is no debate about that. In any case, Avdia’s status in the Israeli national team is no less than that of Jokic in Serbia or Yanis in Greece – these are the undisputed stars of the entire country, to whom everyone has their eyes.
All this without even talking about the relative difference in the dependence of a team like Israel on a single star like Avdia compared to that of an already formidable team like Serbia on a player like Jokic, as legendary as he may be. After that has been placed on the table, you can move on.
Bojan Bogdanovic
Debut tournament: World Championship 2010
age: 21
Personal statistics: 11.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 24 minutes
Group result: Elimination in the round of 16, 14th place
The background for the premiere: The star of the Croatian national team was actually born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but from his entry into the youth national teams he played for the red-whites. The 2010 World Championship was an important turning point for the deadly guard/forward – he reached it after a season of 8.3 points in the Adriatic League with Tsibona Zagreb, after which he increased his average to 18.9 points in his last season with the team before moving to star at Fenerbahce and from there to the NBA . Even today, at the age of 33, Bogdanovic is the star of Croatia and it doesn’t look like anyone will take the reins from him anytime soon.
Laurie Markkanen
Debut tournament: European Championship 2017
age: 20
Personal statistics: 19.5 points, and 5.7 rebounds in 27 minutes
Group result: Relegation in the eighth, 11th place
The background for the premiere: Markkanen came to the tournament after a great season with the Arizona Wildcats (15.6 points and 7.2 rebounds), which led to him being selected seventh overall in the 2017 draft. He received a lot of hype then, but he didn’t let that get in the way, and he didn’t stop at the European Championships either. The biggest star that Finnish basketball had to offer came up for the first time to represent the senior team in the biggest tournament on the continent, and he carried it to dreamy days. Markkanen led to sensational victories over France and Greece in a crazy group stage that ended with a score of 1:4, but was stopped against Italy in the round of 16. Markkanen still has a lot to achieve in the Finnish national team, and in the current championship he proves that he is not interested in stopping to engrave his name in the national history books.
Dennis Schroeder
Debut tournament: European Championship 2015
age: 22
Personal statistics: 21 points, 6 assists, and 4.6 rebounds in 30 minutes
Group result: Elimination in the group stage
The background for the premiere: The star of the German team started his career in the German minor league, but made his way so that at the age of 22 he reached the team as a leading player, with the one and only Dirk Nowitzki by his side. The feline guard locked in his second season in the NBA before the competition, during which he recorded 10 points and 4.1 assists with the Atlanta Hawks, and upon entering the team became the leading point producer to this day. In that tournament it was not enough, and it ended in a disappointing relegation at home, but in 2017, when they reached the quarter-finals, and of course also in the current championship, Schröder and Germany proved that they are a real rising force in European basketball.
