EuroBasket watch: Bogdanovic stumbles plus a surprising performance
A look at the Sacramento Kings players performances at Eurobasket 2017’s game day two including Bogdan Bogdanovic’s stumble and a surprising performance.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, Georgios Papagiannis and Arturas Gudaitis remain on our EuroBasket 2017 watch. The two current and one future (maybe one day, who knows) Sacramento Kings all played their second games of the group phase on September 2. Here are the Kings at the European championship, second edition. (Read the first part here).
Bad day at the office for Bogdan
After the great start against Latvia and a game-high of 30 points, Bogdan Bogdanovic (got) slowed down against Russia and Serbia lost 75-72. Their opponents had their homework done and executed perfectly against the Kings guard on the defensive end.
The 6-6 Serbian shooter didn’t have his best day at work, but he still scored in double digits with 19. How does this count as a bad performance, though? Bogdanovic missed seven shots from long range (3 of 10 on the night) and two key free-throws down the stretch in Istanbul.
Related Story: Bogdan Bogdanovic's 2017-2018 depth chart prediction
However, Bogdanovic stuffed the stats sheet with four assists, three rebounds, a steal, a personal foul and three turnovers in just under 33 minutes of action.
No minutes for Papagiannis
Greece slowed down after the great start and got handed their first loss at EuroBasket 2017. They were defeated by France 95-87, and unfortunately, things got worse for Georgios Papagiannis. This time Papagiannis only got a little more than two minutes on the floor. As expected, that was not enough for him to kick in and get in the right rhythm. His stat sheet saw nothing but zeros against the French.
Light them up, ARTURAS!
Lithuania won their second game at the tournament, and Arturas Gudaitis played a significant role in the victory. The power forward led his team’s second unit to an excellent performance against Israel. The Kings own Gudaitis’ draft rights. The Lithuanians won against Israel 88-73 after their shocking loss to Georgia.
Gudaitis was efficient and finished among the top scorers with 16 points. He did that in just 13 minutes, ending up with a perfect 4 for 4 on two point attempts and 8 of 11 from the charity stripe. He also contributed four boards, three fouls and two turnovers.