The Slovenians are riding on Luka Doncic’s hype to make an impact this EuroBasket. The same mindset was reflected when the Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic spoke about the Slovenian national team’s aim at the EuroBasket 2025: “Our goal is always a medal.” While Doncic did not hesitate to make this bold claim, it won’t be easy. But that’s a far cry, because a lot depends on how the team has performed in the previous editions. So, this has again brought up one question: how did Slovenia perform in 2022?
The digging of Slovenia’s past is linked to much of its present state of affairs. They are paired alongside the likes of France, Israel, Belgium, Iceland, and host Poland, all of whom will not allow Doncic and Co.to have their way. However, this isn’t the first time the Lakers guard will be leading his country against formidable competition; he did something similar at EuroBasket 2022. So, how did that go about?
How did Luka Doncic’s EuroBasket 2022 campaign go with Slovenia?
Slovenia is one of the heavyweights in the competition. Thanks to a marvelous tournament performance by Goran Dragic in 2017, he won the 2017 tournament’s MVP by averaging 22.6 points and 5.1 assists per game as Slovenia picked Gold. Back then, even though Doncic was a part of the team, he was just 18 years old and more than a year away from making his NBA debut. Picking from the 2017 high, they entered the 2022 EuroBasket as the reigning champions.
However, make no mistake in thinking that he wasn’t a key contributor to the team’s championship-winning run (14.3 points in 9 games). The Luka legacy didn’t dip but rose in 2022. Every play was designed keeping the point guard at its center. So, how did Slovenia fare in that competition? Well, while Doncic (14 points in 34+ minutes) started off the competition pretty slowly, that did not stop Slovenia from grabbing its first win against Lithuania. Next stop? Hungary. And it is nostalgic.
Luka Doncic (20 points in 19 minutes) and Co. dominated Hungary in their second game of the group stage, claiming a 103-88 win. Then came Bosnia & Herzegovina, against whom Slovenia suffered their only loss of the group stage. Luka missed all of his eight three-pointers in the game, which was a wake-up call for the then 23-year-old. How did he overcome that? Well, he did exactly what you’d expect Doncic to do: he put up a stunning performance against Germany (36 points!), spearheading a bounce-back win (word of caution: Germany defeated Slovenia in both the friendly games early this month).
SAITAMA, JAPAN – AUGUST 01: Luka Doncic #77 of Team Slovenia celebrates after Slovenia defeated Team Spain in a Men’s Basketball Preliminary Round Group C game at Saitama Super Arena on August 01, 2021 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
However, that wasn’t enough. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar then took things even further against France, which was probably his best performance in the whole tournament, as he scored 47 points against the French. Four wins and just one loss in the group stage were enough for Slovenia to advance to the round of 16, where they met Belgium. The result? Another Doncic masterclass (35 in 35 minutes), another win for Slovenia, as they looked to be the first time since Spain to win back-to-back EuroBasket titles.
However, their dreams were shattered in the quarterfinals, where Slovenia lost to Poland by just three points in heartbreaking fashion. While Luka Doncic and Co. couldn’t finish what they started, there were a lot of bright spots to take away from this EuroBasket 2022 campaign. One of which was their superstar point guard’s exceptional performances against the likes of Germany and France. Speaking of which, why don’t be take a look at Doncic’s detailed stats from EuroBasket 2022?
Luka Doncic’s stats from EuroBasket 2022
As we mentioned, EuroBasket 2022 was the first time that Luka Doncic became the main feature of the Slovenian national team, and it’s safe to say that he did not disappoint at all. Doncic had stunning performances through Slovenia’s run to the quarter-finals, including a massive 47-point game against France, besides holding the 4th position in the table, averaging 26 points in the 7 games he played.
So, here’s Luka Doncic’s stats from the tournament:
Games
Minutes
Points
Rebounds
Assists
vs. Lithuania
35
14
6
10
vs. Hungary
19
20
7
7
vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina
35
16
8
8
vs. Germany
34
36
10
4
vs. France
39
47
7
5
vs. Belgium
36
35
5
5
vs. Poland
35
14
11
7
While the Lakers’ superstar started off pretty slow, he soon picked up pace and peaked toward the end of the group stage, where he helped Slovenia beat France and Germany. Then he followed that with another great performance against Belgium, but couldn’t keep that up against Poland.
Nonetheless, Slovenia will hope that Luka Doncic can emulate those performances, as they hope to take their revenge on Poland, that too, in front of their home crowd, and make a deep run into the tournament. However, will they be able to? Well, with Doncic by their side, nothing will be impossible as everyone awaits the EuroBasket 2025 tip-off.
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