Israel's national basketball team was beaten 101-90 by Georgia in Tbilisi on Sunday in its last tune-up before a FIBA World Cup qualifying window, and afterward team manager Moti Daniel was asked a question far more sensitive than the final score: whether Deni Avdija has a future with the national team at all.
Speaking to ONE's "Conversation of the Day" program, Daniel was pressed on Portland's refusal to release Avdija for this window, with the Trail Blazers citing injury. Asked directly whether that decision meant Israel's biggest star might not represent the country again, Daniel did not offer reassurance. "I really don't know," he said, adding that he understood a club wanting to protect an injured player, even if he personally wished players returned to the national team healthy rather than being held back by their teams altogether.
Daniel also spoke to a wider gap between public perception of the squad's situation and the reality inside the camp, telling ONE that his focus has to remain on the players who are actually available rather than dwelling on those who are missing — even if, as he acknowledged, the squad's recent form has not been strong.
Avdija was not the only high-profile absentee for this window. Ben Sharf also missed out after his club declined to approve his release, while Noam Yaakov and Alon Michaeli were unavailable because their American college programs refused release requests, largely for academic reasons. Nimrod Levi, Joaquin Shockman, Gur Labia and Yuval Zusman remain out through injuries that have not fully healed.
Against that backdrop, Sunday's warm-up in Tbilisi was always going to be an uphill test. Israel actually won the opening quarter, but Georgia clawed back with a 26-16 second period to lead 43-41 at halftime, and pulled away in the final quarter to close out a 101-90 win. Guerschon Bitadze scored 22 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 20 for the hosts, while Roman Sorkin top-scored for Israel with 25.
The result, in a friendly Georgia used as its own final tune-up, is not the platform Daniel would have chosen heading into competitive action. Israel's group qualifiers continue with games against Poland on August 27 and Latvia on August 30, fixtures that will do far more to define the campaign than Sunday's exhibition.
ONE also reported that Daniel left open the possibility of NBA-contracted guards Yam Madar and Tamir Blatt featuring in a future window this cycle, though nothing has been confirmed there either.
For now, the Avdija question hangs over the program without an answer. Daniel's central message was one of patience with the roster he does have, rather than public speculation about the one player whose absence dominates the conversation — but his own words made clear that even he cannot say when, or whether, Avdija will be back.
