Mario Hezonja nearly sparks Croatia comeback over Argentina

Croatia nearly scored a come-from-behind victory over Argentina thanks to a strong offensive performance from Mario Hezonja.

Mario Hezonja rarely has the swagger that made him such a fan favorite pick in last year’s Draft when he plays for his national team. The Croatian National Team puts the ball in Bojan Bogdanovic‘s hands and Dario Saric‘s hands and leaves Hezonja standing in the corner hoping for an opportunity.

Hezonja has had to make due with few opportunities at times. He needed something to spark him and allow him to make the kind of impact his talent is capable of.

Even as Croatia seemed to be falling apart around him, Hezonja made an impact. And brought that swagger back.

In the second quarter, Hezonja got a fast break, rose and jammed over Patricio Garino. There was that trademark stare down, the fire was lit.

Hezonja hit a jab-step 3-pointer in the second half. Drained a tough leaner after hitting the breaks and catching Luis Scola in the air. He hit a deep 3-pointer as Croatia was desperately trying to climb back into a game it had let slip away in the third quarter.

Croatia climbed within four points on a corner 3-pointer from Hezonja, but could not get any closer. Luis Scola and Manu Ginboili proved too much and Croatia unraveled with a technical foul late from their coach that saw him ejected.

Argentina held on to win 90-82 to send Croatia to 1-1 in group play at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Hezonja was not quite the star — Dario Saric nearly put in a triple double — but he did have a strong game, scoring 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting and 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

Hezonja was more active than he has been in previous games with the Croatian National team. They had him working off pin downs and cutting off the ball to free him to the top of the key. This was key to getting him involved.

He was aggressive early. One of his misses came when he drove into the lane and tried to dunk the ball with two hands but came up just short. The shot rimmed out. But it was a sign of the assertiveness and aggressiveness Hezonja was going to have. He was not going to let things fly simply because he had the ball (although his first miss would have suggested that).

Hezonja puts in these kind of games for Croatia despite his low usage. Getting them to become consistent is going to be the trick for him to continue contributing to the national team and eventually for the Magic.

His defense still was somewhat invisible too.

He is not guarding the most prominent player on the opposing team. But when he has to be engaged, he gets caught on screens. He recovers well and is good at communicating and executing switches. Hezonja made this abundantly clear when he blocked a Carlos Delfino shot from behind after getting caught on a screen.

Hezonja still has some ways to go on

Croatia though, lost its composure at various points in the game. The team committed several technical fouls and, with Bojan Bogdanovic struggling from the floor, Croatia found it dificult to score.

The comeback for Croatia in the fourth quarter came with Dario Saric waking up from his shooting funk and getting to the lane to drop the ball down to Milo Biran. Hezonja contributed a lot too as he began to get into a rhythm from beyond the arc especially.

Argentina though was in control of this game for  much of the game. They regained control and held on for the win in the end.

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Croatia is back in action against Brazil on Thursday. That game will air on NBCSN.