‘Touched’ Doncic’s Slovenia overtakes Hezoni’s Croatia, and pre-Olympic games are tough | Relief

If FIBA ​​basketball has shown anything, it’s that you have stars on your team – or one of the best stars available at the moment – This is not enough. and clear An example of this is Slovenia. Luka Doncic’s team was destroyed by Croatia, who played as a team, and the Slovenian tried to hide behind his support: Luka Doncic, who despite injury was the best… but it wasn’t enough. And that’s what With more than seven minutes left in the match, Mario Hezonja’s Croatia had already broken the 100-point barrier.27 more than the Slovenians. And that was the general tone of the disastrous match for Aleksandar Sekulic’s charges, who had a very difficult pre-Olympic match in light of the upcoming events.

Because right now it is practically very difficult for Slovenia to be first in Group A of the Olympic qualification in Piraeus, which would not be completely excluded if Croatia lost to New Zealand and the Slovenian team, on the other hand, won, but it seems so unlikely. And what does this entail? The first thing is that To reach the semi-finals, Luka Doncic’s team must beat New Zealand at all costs.. And secondly, everything points to the fact that in this case he will be second, and if everything goes as expected in Group B, Doncic will have to face Antetokounmpo in the semifinals. A very tough match, in which Greece, both as a host and as a team, will be the favourites.

And that’s what What we saw in this first match in Slovenia was not good. On the defensive level they leaked absolutely everywhere.It was obvious to Doncic that, despite being the best on his team, he was not entirely healthy. Knee problems that ended the NBA season – you could already see him carrying them after the conference finals and in the finals against the Celtics – they continue to, and in fact, they were seen wincing in pain more than once. And his numbers showed that with the 0-for-9 three-point shooting he finished the game with, despite finishing with a triple-double (26 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, finishing with a PIR of 29).

While the final result was not as cumbersome – Slovenia appeared to have prevailed with more than 25 minutes to play due to a possession clock issue with one of the baskets that was eventually “solved” by placing a marker – the Slovenians were down 100 points with more than seven minutes left in the game.

And a fact that also speaks for itself about the lack of collective play in Slovenia is the following: while Croatia made a total of 34 passes, Slovenia had 18, of which Doncic made ten.

Thus, Croatiawhere Mario Hezonja played a good role, but above all there was the star Dario Saric – he also had a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and a PIR of 27 – the unleashed Ivica Zubac (he was only on the track for 18:44 minutes and scored 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and a PIR of 29) and the connected Goran Filipovic (21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and a PIR of 28), She already has a foot and a half in the semi-finals and is in contention for first place in the group.

In its turn, Slovenia must beat New Zealand continue to fight for advancement in the pre-Olympic tournament and the fight for the last place for Paris, which is becoming increasingly difficult.