With their ticket booked for the knockout round in this year’s EuroBasket tournament, Slovenia (2-2) will play their final game in the group phase round against Israel (3-1) on Thursday. Israel currently tops the Group D standings with a points difference of 26.
Start time and TV schedule
Who: Slovenia vs. Israel
When: 8 a.m. PT, Sept 4
Where: Spodek Arena, Poland
Watch: Courtside 1891
Luka Dončić couldn’t find a better time to have his worst game of the tournament so far because it didn’t matter in Tuesday’s
rewarding victory versus Iceland. Slovenia became the third member in their group to clinch a spot in the Round of 16 stage after host country Poland and their upcoming opponent Israel did so first. And because Slovenia defeated Iceland, France was able to benefit by being the fourth team in the group to join the party.
Since both Slovenia and Israel already took care of business by advancing to the knockout round, technically, this could be considered an unimportant game for both teams. But standings and point difference matters in determining their placement in the Round of 16 bracket. Ideally, the Slovenians want the most advantageous path possible for them to keep their EuroBasket campaign alive for as long as possible.
For the last 16 teams of the tournament, the top four countries in Group A will merge with the top four countries in Group B while the same goes for Group C and D. The top-seeded teams will have the advantage by going up against the teams that placed fourth in the opposite group while those that came in second and third will face each other.
Slovenia, who is currently sitting in the fourth seed of Group D, should do everything possible to climb to third place. That also means hoping France loses to Iceland by as many points as possible, which is a tough ask given that the latter has yet to win a game not just in this year’s tournament but in their EuroBasket history.
That said, it would still be nice for the Slovenians to take this one seriously and maybe even approach this game like a knockout match already given how well Israel has performed. The Israelis are a young and hungry team led by Deni Avdija and a strong supporting cast.
They’re determined to end their 46-year medal drought and make up for not advancing to the knockout stage in the last two tournaments. So far, they’ve accomplished their goal by being one of the top-performing teams in the competition.
It’s uncertain whether or not Slovenia and Israel will sit their best players on Thursday but if they don’t, this should be the perfect opportunity for the Slovenians to measure themselves against the best team in their group. A strong, third consecutive victory would be the perfect way to end the Group phase round. Let’s see if Dončić and his team can do just that.
Notes and Updates:
- Something to watch out for: For Group C, Greece and Italy have already punched their ticket to the Round of 16 stage as well. The remaining two teams that will take the third and final spot have yet to be determined and it’s an interesting battle right now involving Spain, Georgia and Bosnia nd Herzegovina, who are currently in a three-way tie with the record of 2-2.
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.
