Croatia avoided a group of death, but landed what is by no means an easy group as the draw for the 2014 FIBA World Cup took place Monday afternoon in Spain. Croatia should receive plenty of American attention during the tournament, despite avoiding them in the draw, as up to three players may be headed to the NBA in the near future. Bojan Bogdanović is averaging 16 points per game in Euroleague this season and is expected to join the Nets in the summer. Additionally, youngsters Dario Šarić and Mario Hezonja are projected as 2014 and 2015 lottery picks, respectively. The tournament will begin on August 30th and will conclude with the final on September 14th.
Pot one of the draw consisted of the top four teams in the world, while pot six had the next four best, and the rest were divided by region. Ranked 16th in the world, Croatia were placed in the European pot (four). The best news for Croatia is there will be no United States or Spain to contend with in round one. However, in a format where the top four in each group advance to the final 16, teams two through six may be the most important ones to analyze for a side like Croatia.
Croatia find themselves in Group B, where the favorites will be Argentina (#3) and Greece (#5). Argentina are coming off of a 2012 South American Championship and a 4th place finish at the London Olympics. Croatia last met the Argentines in the 2008 Olympics, where the South Americans earned an easy 24 point victory. They are led by San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili and the Houston Rockets’ Luis Scola. Greece has struggled as of late, going just 1-4 in Eurobasket 2013, including a double overtime loss to Croatia. Greece has three NBA players, including promising Bucks rookie, Giannis Antetokounmpo. The final three teams in the group are Puerto Rico (#17), Senegal (#41), and the Philippines (#34). Between the three, Puerto Rico’s JJ Barea is the lone NBA player.
Go Team Philippines!!!
Modric was great today! Rakitic won player of the month in la liga.
Modric with a solid match today for Real.
Its comin…
where is the PBZ Zagreb Indoor tennis coverage at 😀 ??
It is. Now Maminjo is doing everything he can to get the BBB back. See, boycott is working. Slowly but surely.
Is it possible to get even more disgusted with Dinamo goings ons?
Based upon Zach’s avatar… I think Zach would kill it at Zrce…
FREAKING DOOOOOOFUST!
Scola plays for the Pacers doofus
bra neymar hulk robinho
cam eto
mex chirctoro carlos vela out
olic 5 jealavic 3 petric 3 mandzukic 4 eduardo da sliva 4
start olic eduadro sliva brazil
cam olic mandzukic
mex eduardo da dilva mandzukic
@majstore
I wonder if Spain joined that tournament to prep against us?
They probably expect we are going to be their Round of 16 opponent.
Yea, but getting drafted later can mean that:
A) the team drafting him is a win-now, playoff team that will likely not play him over the existing, more experienced talent on the squad
B) being drafted with a late pick doesn’t put as much pressure to develop him as he did not come at a high cost to the club
I would prefer Saric is drafted in the lotto, just because the lower quality of the squad may result in him getting more playing time, in addition to the team’s coach feeling more pressure from above to play him as no GM wants to have their lotto picks wasted.
However it can work both ways where you can argue that a losing franchise won’t know how to develop a young player etc, so you never know how things can play out.
I just hope he is drafted by a team that is committed to him becoming a part of their long term future and have a vested interest in developing him.
Yeah I made a mistake i meant to say Bogdanovic. Btw I wasn’t
impressed with Saric. Stats can be deceiving. I don’t see this kid doing anything big in the nba. Saric may be a lottery pick but he won’t be a star in the nba. If he plays the 4 he will get killed. His best bet is playing the 3. I could se whim getting drafted in the 8-10 range. I think it would be better for him to be drafted later in the first round and getting picked up by a team like okc or san antonio. That way he doesn’t have the pressure of being a lottery pick.
Bosanjeros coming back to the States.
WTF
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/world-cup-spain-warm-brazil-us-tournament-141420469–sow.html
Would be nice if Croatia came to North America for a pre-turnir tuneup.
In terms of the shooting, i think your right. It is still a weakness of Saric, but most nba scouts think that shooting can be developed in the league. Most players are drafted based on natural abilities. The high picks now adays are in their teens and its well known they don’t have the current skill set to compete. but if they have the phsyical base they can learn it
Saric is a lotto pick despite the ups and downs he’s had in the past couple of years with his club teams.
This draft is crazy stacked with blue chip prospects, and Saric will still be a lotto pick. That says a lot. The tools he has are just too good to pass up.
In the NBA, Saric will be a bigger version of Toni Kukoc (with those nice point forward skills). But instead of the 3, he’ll play the 4. Since he rebounds exceedingly well, he has rare potential to be one of those typical 6’10” Euro power forwards…but who can actually rebound. His only question mark will be his defense and his shot. Most Euro players go through these same struggles with NBA caliber defense, and developing an NBA jump shot is actually the least concern to most scouts as it can be taught.
Dude you’re so cool it hurts.
Hezonja plays for Barcelona… Sounds like Saric impressed though. 22 Points, 12 Rebounds
There are a ton of nba scouts at the game observing Saric, and Hezonja
Is anyone watching cibona vs partizan ?
Hezonja will be in the nba draft this upcoming year along with saric most likely .originally projected as a top 10 pick, he been falling down lately in the draft. many scouts think he might be the best international prospect and love him, but he just isn’t getting much playing time on the senior Barcelona team, which is understandable. so they just don’t have much data to go off of for him
saric continues to hold steady in the rankings. it seemed like a big mistake for him to pull out of last years weak draft class, but it looks like he might get drafted higher this year in a historic class than he would have last year. he’s currently slotted to somewhere around 8 to 10th pick. he’s been putting on an impressive performance in the cro league for a player his age
haha..
“Croatia Land Mixed Bag in 2014 FIBA World Cup Draw”
hey guys, i got a mixed bag..
ITS DOWN MY PANTS.. A MIXED BAG OF NUTS..
god dayum im funny ~!
@ Zach
Appreciate the work you put into all the sports especially the košarku.
I am just happy this crew gets to be there with the best in the world.
I would like to see Hezonja mature with the senior squad on his way to the 2015 NBA lottery. Plus he will provide some scoring pop off the bench.
Repasa is having these boys playing some good basketball.
May need to give another athletic big a spot as well.
hahaha i just realised we got the pinoy poofies..
that’s great.. couple of my best mates are phillippino i cant wait to urinate on on their faces when we smash em
fucking a-grade bishes
easy as fucking piss
pity we didnt get aussies tho
Yes. But if we finish 4th, we would likely play Spain in the round of 16. Top 3 is a must. Also, Serbia is in Group A, and should they finish 2nd and Croatia 3rd or vice versa they would meet in the round of 16
Looks like a pretty good draw for us. I’m not worried. We will qualify for the next round.
Nice post Ante!
Nice post Zach!
Great group for Croatia. Knowing us, we can top the group or finish fourth. I do like these group of players and I can see them reaching the semis with a good showing in the first round.
sucks gircek not playing anymore
boganovic roko ukic
olic eduardo mandzukic petric all should be on wc
sucks klasnic not playing any more the killer
first croatia to beat arg n grecce mex vela out cam eto wacth out bra neymar hulk robinho wacth out