Great Britain fell to Israel today, 102-92, in their first game of the qualifying portion of the 2009 European Championships.

Luol Deng checked back into the game with 6:42 remaining in the 4th quarter, as Great Britain trailed Israel 75-71. Great Britain trailed Israel 79-73, but surged back into the game as the result of a total team effort. In the final 6 minutes of the game, Luol Deng scored 4 points and Joel Freeland scored 9 points.

Great Britain recaptured the lead, when Luol Deng laid it in to make the game 82-81. Israel quickly recaptured the lead with a Lior Eliyahu jump shot. Great Britain retook the lead on the second of two Luol Deng free throws.

Nate Reinking extended Great Britain’s lead to 2 points, making it 85-83 with 3 seconds left. Reinking missed the second of the two free throws. With one second left, Reinking fouled Meir Tapiro, who made two free throws to tie it up and bring the game to overtime.

Great Britain was competitive in the beginning of the overtime period, behind a three point field goal and a two point field goal made by Luol Deng. After Deng fouled out, it was all Israel, as they ran away to a 102-92 victory.

Meir Taprio had 27 points for Israel and Lior Eliyahu had 24 points. Top draft prospect, Omri Casspi had a very poor outing, scoring only 3 points and grabbing 4 points.

Luol Deng still looks a bit uncomfortable in the role of a first option. Overall, he did pretty well in the game, finishing with 30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. However, he was very turnover prone in this role, racking up 6 turnovers in the game.

Deng’s turnovers were actually very Ben Gordon-esque. He had 2 turnovers as the result of offensive fouls, 2 turnovers as a result of traveling, and 1 turnover as a result of his ball handling. Up until last year, these were what made up a lot of Gordon’s turnovers.

Deng also didn’t quite show that killer instinct that a Kobe Bryant or Ben Gordon possess. When Israel started to take the lead and pull away a bit, Luol Deng did not demand the ball and step up for his team. Instead, at one point in the 3rd quarter, we went through nearly 4 minutes of Deng not taking a shot, as Israel started to pile it on.

Still, at the end of the day, a 30 point game is still a pretty impressive game.

If Great Britain wants to keep their hopes of qualifying for the 2009 European Championship alive, they need to get their act together quickly. Luol Deng is a far superior player to anyone else that they are playing and Great Britain has a pretty decent supporting cast. With that, there is no excuse for Great Britain losing to any team in Group D. Israel is a team that they beat without Deng in a friendlies match.

Great Britain’s next game is September 6th against the Czech Republic.