Israel vs. Poland preview: Can Avdija punch his national team’s ticket to EuroBasket’s knockout round?

The Israel men’s national basketball team is off to a 2-0 start in EuroBasket 2022 Group D play in Prague, Czech Republic. Tomorrow at 8 a.m., they will play Poland. The Poles are 1-1 in Group play, beating the Czech Republic, 99-84 in their first game and losing to Finland 89-59 yesterday.

The Israelis may co-lead the group with Serbia, but their win against the Netherlands last night required Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija’s heroics.

It was great for narratives and social media gloating. But not so much if the team’s shooting is off sync against better opponents.

The most familiar player on Poland’s roster is starting point guard AJ Slaughter, who played college basketball from 2006-10 at Western Kentucky. Reggio Emilia forward Mateusz Ponitka has been led the team in scoring so far and will be Avdija’s test tomorrow afternoon.

If Israel can get one more win, they should be in good shape for the Round of 16. Hopefully, they can still do better than the fourth seed in the group.

About Poland

• Capital: Warsaw
• Population: 38.1 million
• National Anthem: Mazurek Dąbrowskiego (Poland Is Not Yet Lost)

• Most well-known companies from Poland: The biggest Polish company based on revenue is PKN Orlen, which is an oil and gas refiner and retailer. The next biggest is Biedronka, which is a supermarket and discount shop retailer. They are big within Poland, but aren’t as well known to Americans. Commenters (and Marcin if you read this), help me flesh out this section!
• Attractions I would like to see in Poland: I like seeing central plazas in European cities, and Poland has some of the most attractive ones in the world. The Main Market Square in Krakow and the Old Market Place in Warsaw come to mind. Also, the Wawel castle comes to mind. I have been to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Oswiecim, but it is not for the faint of heart.
• Other things Poland is known for to Americans: Since Wizards fan favorite Marcin Gortat played several years in D.C., we had an entire Polish Week which you can read here! I love babkas and pierogies. And my sister loves playing Chopin on the piano.
• Official Language: Polish
• What do Poles call their country? Polska (Pole-skah)
• The first Pole I can think of whose name isn’t Marcin: Pope Saint John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła) was the leader of the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years after Adrian VI.
• What is a popular song in Poland by Polish artists? According to The Top 50 most played songs in Poland on Spotify, “JESTEM POJ384NY” (I am ‘POJ384NY’) by rapper Mata is at No. 1 as of Sept. 4.