Mario Hezonja stays quiet as Croatia holds off Brazil

Croatia held off Brazil behind a big performance from former Orlando Magic pick Dario Saric. Meanwhile, Mario Hezonja remained largely quiet for the game.

This was the game that will likely make Orlando Magic fans think twice about their team’s draft decisions.

On one end, Mario Hezonja was standing in the corner, relegated by his role to a bystander on his Olympic team and getting so few moments to impact the game. His mistakes magnified by those few touches and opportunities.

On the other end, was the guy who got away seemingly. The one the Magic gave up — either because of impatience since he would not arrive on American shores for two years or because the Magic just had to have Elfrid Payton — was making plays on both ends, finally emerging with his best game of the Olympic basketball tournament.

And that includes a near triple double in Tuesday’s loss to Argentina.

Dario Saric was the one sprinting from one end to the other to block a layup (like he did to save the day in Croatia’s win over Spain) and then firing the ball to the other end to Bojan Bogdanovic for the layup. It was Saric draining the killer 3-pointer to give Croatia some breathing room as Brazil started making a run at the lead Croatia had build in the second quarter.

Croatia succumbed to isolation play a bit more after a very strong first half where they took a double-digit lead. Bogdanovic scored 33 points on 10-for-16 shooting. Saric added 15 points and seven rebounds. And Croatia held off Brazil 80-76 in a critical Group B matchup that should send Croatia on to the knockout stage with group-leading Lithuania and Nigeria still on the schedule.

While Saric, the Magic’s draft pick traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Elfrid Payton, was shining, Mario Hezonja was pushed to the background.

Hezonja had six points on 2-for-3 shooting (all from beyond the arc) and went largely invisible for this game, despite earning his first start of the Olympics.

He opened the scoring with a very confident 3-pointer off a ball reversal with a defender in his face. His other make came on a deep 3-pointer that came within the flow of the offense. Hezonja’s miss was a nice ball reversal to the corner for an open 3, Hezonja just missed.

His offense was not a problem throughout the game. He played his role once again. And on Croatia, that role is just standing in the corner and waiting for the ball to come his way. He is not asked to dribble or be particularly aggressive.

Hezonja did make two critical errors on offense in the fourth quarter as Brazil made their comeback. He turned the ball over twice, once by stepping on the line. Those are potentially costly mistakes.

Hezonja also looked a bit exposed on defense. He got the initial call on Leandro Barbosa and got blown by once or twice. He struggled getting around screens and seemed too tied to his man to be in good help position. He was certainly caught ball watching a few times and missed opportunities to impede cutters.

Some of this is certainly still attributed to his youth. He still has a lot to learn on the defensive end. But he also just seemed a bit slow and flat footed on defense. There is still a long way to go for him.

The optics for Magic fans are not good as Saric continues to shine for Croatia. That is partly because he is that good — still developing a jumper, but clearly with some versatility and playmaking ability — but also because of the role he plays. Hezonja does not have those opportunities with Bogdanovic being a high-usage player.

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The important thing for Hezonja is that Croatia won. They set themselves up nicely in this critical game to move on in the Olympic tournament. And Hezonja did help when he was given the opportunity.