EuroBasket: Deni Watch

[DusterBuster]

Game one results:

Israel W over Iceland 83-71.

Deni 20pts, 9rebs, 2ast, 3blks, 1chipped tooth.

Watch on YouTube

Tooth: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fxbr2obp8vrlf1.png

[HoopsFanAZ]

Thanks for the link. Keep them coming.

Deni getting the green light from Billups to be a dude — if not THE dude — will be interesting to see this season.

[DusterBuster]

Read on Twitter

[zzaj]

Yeah, considering the lack of upper tier talent on Israel's team, it'll be interesting to see how Deni responds with more of "the guy" role with regard to opposing defenses. Apparently, Deni's shooting stunk up the court in the practices and preliminary games, so being able to impact a win is a good sign.

EDIT: just checked the boxscore. Apparently Israel's center was the "guy" in this game. And Deni stunk it up from 3, going 0-5. Let's hope his outside shooting to end last year wasn't just an aberration...

[DusterBuster]

Bookmark post, for those who care.

Cronin and the Blazers will “agree to part ways” next summer, Schmitz will be the new GM under Dundon. Cronin sees what’s coming, think he’s showing Schmitz how to do the job.

[m0ng0]

Bookmark post, for those who care.

Cronin and the Blazers will “agree to part ways” next summer, Schmitz will be the new GM under Dundon. Cronin sees what’s coming, think he’s showing Schmitz how to do the job.

Based on what?

[DusterBuster]

Bookmark post, for those who care.

Cronin and the Blazers will “agree to part ways” next summer, Schmitz will be the new GM under Dundon. Cronin sees what’s coming, think he’s showing Schmitz how to do the job.

Based on what?

No sourcing, just gut.

Think Dundon will view Mike as a fresh face vs a old school guy like Cronin who’s been around the block a min, and he’ll be cheaper.

[dckingsfan]

Deni Avdija, 27 points (7/19), 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 TOs, 2 steals, 2 blocks

[dckingsfan]

Deni Avdija 23 points (7/10), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 TOs, 5 steals

[Pistol King]

Deni Avdija 23 points (7/10), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 TOs, 5 steals

In a win against France

Watch on YouTube

[PDXKnight]

Bookmark post, for those who care.

Cronin and the Blazers will “agree to part ways” next summer, Schmitz will be the new GM under Dundon. Cronin sees what’s coming, think he’s showing Schmitz how to do the job.

Based on what?

No sourcing, just gut.

Think Dundon will view Mike as a fresh face vs a old school guy like Cronin who’s been around the block a min, and he’ll be cheaper.

Tbh I doubt the hire would be anyone internal. Also im not so sure hed go for cheap on the gm front, he seems like the type of owner who would bring in smart people whether theyre cheap or maybe a bit more spendy. Gm and coach are pretty miniscule in cost when it comes to getting the best value out of a 200 million dollar roster so I imagine 15-20 mil total for both is pretty negligible. Id also think eliminating any loyalties to the past regime might make it less awkward in many cases (though maybe theres a few exceptions). But positions like gm/pres/coach that are the face of tbe franchise definitely should clean house and allow them to do what they want with their staff.

Probably a pipe dream but if miami or spoelstra ever decided to change it up that would be pretty a great home run attempt with his history in portland. Is a huge contract ie 15 mil for spoelstra really that bad compared to paying Sharpe 40 mil or the stupid money Grant is making, or the jrue contract, etc..

[monopoman]

Incredible games from Deni, and more evidence that this might go down as one of the best trades the Blazers have ever made. At this point in my book he is nearly untouchable on the roster, barring some slam dunk trade coming around I hope we keep him for 10 years or more.

[ebott]

Bookmark post, for those who care.

Cronin and the Blazers will “agree to part ways” next summer, Schmitz will be the new GM under Dundon. Cronin sees what’s coming, think he’s showing Schmitz how to do the job.

What motivated you to make this bold declaration in a thread about Deni at Eurobasket?

[DusterBuster]

Bookmark post, for those who care.

Cronin and the Blazers will “agree to part ways” next summer, Schmitz will be the new GM under Dundon. Cronin sees what’s coming, think he’s showing Schmitz how to do the job.

What motivated you to make this bold declaration in a thread about Deni at Eurobasket?

Comment made off of the Blazers contingent who's been at EuroBasket the entire time for Deni. Not meant to be a derail comment, just a observation and felt like taking a swing of a futurebet take.

Deni and Israel going to the final phase after another win this morning. They're now 3-1, with the 1 loss being on a final shot, so they were nearly a perfect 4-0. In the win over Belgium, Deni had 22pts, 4asts, 3rebs. He's the first Israeli player to score 20 or more points in more than three games in a single EuroBasket tournament since 97.

Watch on YouTube

[BlazersBroncos]

Deni is going to be a monster this year with the keys to the team out the gate. I could see 23 / 8.5 / 5 on 56%+ TS.

[DusterBuster]

Deni is going to be a monster this year with the keys to the team out the gate. I could see 23 / 8.5 / 5 on 56%+ TS.

I'm hesitant to put any expectations right away on Deni, but he's definitely the most interesting plot to start the season. It's going to be really interesting see a Blazer team totally built around a wing vs a guard. When's really the last time the Blazers have crafted their entire offense around a wing like this? Roy might be the closest, but he was clearly more guard than wing. I'm still a bit groggy from the long weekend, but maybe someone else has a similar comp - not one I can remember tho.

It's certainly going to be something new for Portland - at the very least in a long time.

[ebott]

It's just so hard to see anyone doing that well on a team with such bad spacing due to lack of established shooting ability.

[Pistol King]

France just beats Poland 83-76, which now puts Israel at the 1'st place in group D for now, but makes things more complicated.
All eyes are now on Thursday's Israel vs Slovenia match. If Israel wins it, they would qualify from the 1'st place and get an easier draw (probably Georgia or Spain) at the round of 16, if they lose, they likely going to qualify from the 4'th place and meet Giannis and Greece. Deni vs Luka on Thursday. Let's see if Deni can lead his NT to a win in a big time match up.

[BlazersBroncos]

Deni is going to be a monster this year with the keys to the team out the gate. I could see 23 / 8.5 / 5 on 56%+ TS.

I'm hesitant to put any expectations right away on Deni, but he's definitely the most interesting plot to start the season. It's going to be really interesting see a Blazer team totally built around a wing vs a guard. When's really the last time the Blazers have crafted their entire offense around a wing like this? Roy might be the closest, but he was clearly more guard than wing. I'm still a bit groggy from the long weekend, but maybe someone else has a similar comp - not one I can remember tho.

It's certainly going to be something new for Portland - at the very least in a long time.

Deni's age 24 season actually compares very well to Roy's age 23 season, even w/ Deni's super slow start.

There is a non-zero chance that Deni can become a Roy level player. Maybe he never has the season Roy had as a 3rd year guy (.200+ WS48, 6.0 OBPM) but who knows. Avdija is a late bloomer, much like Kawai. He probably isnt ever as good as Roy or Leonard but there isnt a reason he cant be a Jalen Williams level talent IMO.

[zzaj]

I'm less of a Deni believer than many on this thread...

I honestly don't see much skill development from him now from when I binged his WAS games after he was acquired by the Blazers...and that's okay, IMO. I see now a stronger, more efficient and smarter version of that WAS player. I think last year was an important year for him--from poor start, to benching, to playing exceptionally well to end the season--I think he got some important experience in the 'whatever it takes to win' area of the game. And that's how I see his career arc. I don't think Deni will ever be the "go get a bucket" or "last shot to win the game" type of player that so many NBA stars seem to be nowadays. I think his arc will be more of a dirtywork, efficient, FT line, good defense, smarts player.

In that way I see him as more of a Scottie Pippen type player. Scottie's superpower was defense and all-around game in his prime, whereas Deni's is his downhill craft. Now, obviously I'm not saying Deni is going to be as good as Scottie...it's just a comparison to type of role on a team. A lot of people point out Scottie's season as Alpha first option when MJ left as his most impressive. I never felt that way. To me the seasons proceeding when he knew his role, and excelled at what it took to make the team win were much more impressive.

Would it be nice if Deni took the next step into self-creation and 3pt proficiency that made him an Alpha? Of course. But I think it much more likely that he continues his trend toward A+ team focus, do-it-all play that will define his career.