3/5: Deni Just Wants To Be Deni
Dispatch from Jewish Heritage Night!
You’re reading DENI DIARY, a weekly dispatch from Deni Avdija’s rookie season by Louis Keene. (Follow me on Twitter!)
Good news! Deni Avdija was one of a dozen or so rookies named to the Rising Stars Challenge roster, but he’s not headed with Bradley Beal to Atlanta for All-Star Weekend. Because of the coronavirus thing everyone keeps talking about, they cancelled Rising Stars and just picked rosters for prestige reasons I guess. Bad news! But the game was always on Friday night anyway. Everything happens for a reason…
One of the things hampering Deni’s ability to get consistent minutes in Scott Brooks’ rotation has been foul trouble. I think it’s mostly true that Deni has received a harsh whistle this year, and that that’s mostly a consequence of his rookie status. That’s easier for you and me to accept than it is for him. Asked about it following a recent game in which he logged under 10 minutes after picking up a few early fouls, Deni sort of let loose on the officiating.
You know how it works in this league. And what can I do? It’s frustrating. I’m trying to play defense, I’m trying to earn my minutes, and by me getting fouls, it doesn’t really help me, you know? I’m trying to help the team with my defense, but when you’re getting calls on everything, you can’t do much about it.
Personally what I think? I think our refs need to call a call regardless if it’s a rookie. I think rules are rules, right? There’s a rule that this thing is a foul, so you need to call this a foul every possession. But that’s what it is, and I’m going to keep facing it, and it’s not going to break me.
This is perhaps the most significant cultural adjustment Deni has had to make since arriving in the United States last fall. American sporting culture dictates that the vets get benefit of the doubt and greenhorns don’t. If that’s not how it is in Eurobasket or in Israel, I wonder how much it has to do with the strong history of sports unions in the U.S. In the NBA, compensation is strongly tied to service time in collective bargaining. The league minimum for a player in his 10th year is a couple million dollars more than it is for a fourth-year. And the first guy will get more calls too.
Either the squeaky wheel gets the grease or the odds were bound to even out, because in the third quarter Thursday night, Deni was beneficiary of an offensive foul call against former NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Guarding the Clippers star one-on-one, Deni stayed in front of Leonard long enough to catch a forearm shove, which was just noticeable enough for the whistle to blow. Apparently appalled by the rookie getting the call, the Clippers challenged it as if to ask the refs are you sure?
They were sure.
Yay Deni. He finished 2/2 for four points and seven boards along with a block and a steal in 25 minutes of a two-point win. The Wizards head into the All-Star break with an honestly non-dismal record of 14-20.
Last night was also Jewish Heritage Night, which I have to say was a bit overwhelming. They started with a national anthem performance recorded by Kobi Aflalo, who was fine but it could have been so many other people. They then reheated this clip, which the Wizards already played during the first game of the season.
This video contains nothing about Judaism by the way. But I think it’s nice that Deni identifies as a Jew. I’d also like to learn more about how Islam factored in his upbringing. (His dad is Serbian.) There was a video where Omri Casspi wished him well, but he didn’t really say anything besides “I remember my first Jewish heritage night!” And Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Gilad Erdan read some trite encouragement off a teleprompter.
Finally, Deni made this nice play.
Very good drive, Deni.
Shabbat Shalom!
-Louis