By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
In the EuroBasket premiere, Goran Dragic rained fire and brimstone over the Polish national team with 30 points (12/23 from the field, 5/5 free throws), a game-winning display for medal-aspiring Slovenia. The Miami Heat guard broke the previous record with his country’s jersey which he had previously set in a 75 – 63 win over Greece during EuroBasket 2013. Since the “Dragon” said that he will retire from international hoops after this tournament, you should probably expect similar feats from him in the following weeks.
The outcome between Germany and Ukraine had already been decided with the final moments of the game thanks to a dazzling Dennis Schroder. When he decided to cap his star performance with a downtown bucket at the buzzer, he made his points 32 (11/20 field goals, 5/5 from the line) and closed shop with a new personal best with Germany, surpassing the 29 points he had dropped in the 89 – 82 loss to Italy, for the same tournament two years ago.
Not all career-highs from Day 1 were combined with victories though. France fell victim to a major upset in the hands of hosts Finland, despite the record-breaking efforts of Evan Fournier. The 24-year-old wing of the Orlando Magic, pumped up the volume down the stretch and finished with 25 points (8/15 field goals, 7/8 free throws), ten more than the 15 points he had scored during a 81 – 68 win over Serbia for the EuroBasket 2015 bronze medal.
If there’s a new leader emerging in the ranks of the Polish national team following Marcin Gortat’s retirement, then you should seriously place your bets on that guy being Mateusz Ponitka. While the 22-point (6/13 from the field, 9/11 from the line) international career-high wasn’t enough, Ponitka’s hustle, diverse contribution, fighting attitude (also 13 rebounds) and continuous energy flow was a beacon of competitiveness within his squad.
We excluded players like Lauri Markkanen (Finland) or Nikos Pappas (Greece) that debuted with their senior national teams in a non-“friendly” game.
(Photo credit: FIBA.basketball)