The NBA is bad, and FIBA ​​is reborn, the 31-year-old center stops pretending

The group stage of the men's basketball team in the European Championship was unpopular. Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated Greece 80-77, giving their opponents their first defeat in the European Championship. Although Antetokounmpo Antetokounmpo was absent from the game, the victory was still a miracle for Bosnia and Herzegovina, which ranked only 17th in the world.

Bosnia and Herzegovina star Yusuf Nurkic became the key player in the game. He played 27 minutes in the game, made 6 of 13 shots, 6 of 12 free throws, scored 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. Although there were 5 mistakes, his plus or negative values ​​reached the highest +15 in the team.

This victory is of great significance to Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are currently ranked fifth in the group with a record of 2 wins and 2 losses, with the final game of the group stage against Georgia, and the winner of this game will directly qualify for the knockout round.

You should know that the strength of this Bosnia and Herzegovina men's basketball team is already in the middle and lower reaches of the European Championships - there are no NBA players like Moussa and Garza, nor naturalized player Xavier Castaneda, and the FIBA ​​pre-match ranking is only 17th. With all the teams ranked lower in the same group such as Cyprus (24) and Czech Republic (23) have been eliminated, Bosnia and Herzegovina will retain hope of qualifying almost entirely due to Nurkic's support.

Looking back at this European Championship, Nurkic's performance can be regarded as the "Body-Herzegovina pillar". In the four games, he averaged 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals per game, and 50% shooting percentage. He scored, rebounds, and efficiency values ​​(cumulative + 65) were the first in the team.

Against Cyprus, he scored 6 of 11 shots and scored 18 points and 6 rebounds; facing the strong Spain, he scored 7 rebounds and 1 steal even though he scored 20 points and only scored 10 points; against Italy, he scored 8 of 16 shots and scored a double-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists; now he has delivered a comprehensive performance of 18+10 in the key battle against Greece.

Nurkic's situation in the NBA is not ideal. Last season with the Suns, he averaged only 8.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, shooting as low as 45.4% and 32.2% from three-point shooting percentage.

Worse, when he was on the court, the Suns lost 6.5 points per 100 games; while when he was not on the court, the team only lost 0.2 points. Such a performance made the Suns rather get a first-round pick than trade him to the Hornets.

' performance with the Hornets is also unreasonable: averaging 9.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, and shooting percentage of 49.7%. He was traded to the Jazz again this offseason and will enter a contract year of $19.37 million next season.

During the previous warm-up match, the Bosnia and Herzegovina head coach publicly criticized Nurkic for being "distant and almost unable to run", but after the European Championship started, he responded to the doubts with practical actions.

Nurkic, 31, is still at the peak of his player age. Jazz General Manager Angie is willing to trade him with the second round pick, and obviously has his potential. If he can lead Bosnia and Herzegovina to successfully qualify in the European Championship and then regain his form in the NBA next season, Nurkic will have a chance to win a good contract extension.

The next qualifying battle against Georgia, it is worth looking forward to whether this Bosnian "Dinghai Sword" can break out again.