Coming off a big win against Argentina, it was Croatia’s turn to be upset and lose a close game. Senegal used their size and athleticism to good effect, beating Croatia 77-75, as Croatia’s knockout round hopes took a hit.
19 year old potential lottery pick Mario Hezonja got an unexpected start for Croatia as Bojan Bogdanovic began the game on the bench, and the youngster drove to the hoop and threw down in the first minute. It was a bizzare change from the coaching staff, as Bogdanovic had been Croatia’s best player and Hezonja had very little playing time. Senegal looked to get on the break and get chances in transition, and Croatia tried to force them into the half-court offense, where Senegal was much less effective. Neither side was able to establish any kind of lead in the first quarter, with Senegal going in up 18-16. The Senegalese hit their shots at the start of the 2nd to pull ahead to an eight point lead with eight to play. Croatia failed to find their rhythm and went into the break down 42-31, with Dario Saric as the only bright spot in the first half. Through twenty minutes, Minnesota Timberwolf Gorgui Dieng had torn up the Croatian defense for 16 points off nine shots.
Saric continued to play well and lead the team in the 3rd quarter, and a three point play with seven minutes to go gave him 13 points and put Croatia within five. Saric stole the ball and produced a behind the back pass to Bogdanovic one minute later, who missed twice from the line, continuing his rough game. Senegal lost big man Hamady N’diaye to a back injury midway through the quarter, a big loss as he had played well. With one to go, Croatia still trailed, down 52-59. Croatia chiseled away throughout the fourth, and a pair of free throws from Ante Tomic brought the deficit down to two with 4:57 to go, as Gorgui Dieng picked up his fourth foul. Senegal lost another starter when Mouhammad Faye fouled out with 2:50 to go, with the African side leafing 70-66. Bogdanovic hit a big contested three on the next possession to close it down to one point. With 55 seconds to go, Croatia forced a shot clock violation and had two great oppurtunities to tie it up as their two best three point shooters Bogdanovic and Damjan Rudez missed wide open threes. Senegal hit one of two free throws and then Oliver Laffayette hit a much needed three with 20 seconds on the clock. Senegal hit both free throws and Krunoslav Simon threw up a long, contested three pointer, ending Croatia’s hopes of a win.
Dario Saric was Croatia’s best player as well as a vocal leader, scoring fifteen points from nine shots, grabbing nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Ante Tomic also played well, getting to the line seven times, and hitting 12/14 free throws as he scored 14 points and picked up nine rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic had his worst game of the tournament, scoring 15 points of 14 shots, and shooting 4/8 from the charity stripe. Gorgui Dieng finished the game with 27 points off 14 shots. He also added eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
Croatia are now 2-1 and could finish anywhere from 1st to 5th in their group with two games to go. The team will get the day off tomorrow before they take on group leaders Greece on Wednesday.
Mental midgets
If Croatia wins against Puerto Rico tomorrow AND Greece wins against Argentina, they finish third play Brazil.
If Croatia wins against Puerto Rico tomorrow AND Greece loses against Argentina, they finish fourth and play Spain.
If Croatia loses to Puerto Rico tomorrow, they finish fifth and are out.
Greece will likely beat Argentina tomorrow as they still need a win to clinch first in their group (and avoid Spain in the quarters).
It all comes down to Croatia beating Puerto Rico, and they get a date with Brazil (who have already clinched 2nd in the opposing group).
Serbia hasn’t been great either. They’ve only beaten Egypt and Iran. Unless Serbia wins against Spain (not likely) they are going to have to play their Orthodox brothers in the next round.
“Marc Stein RT @IAmDPick: Hearing from Croatia camp that at least one member of team has called for coach Jasmin Repesa to step down (DURING TOURNAMENT)”
Looking more and more like this years FIFA World Cup.
croatia beats argentina, croatia loses to senegal, argentina beats senegal by 35
Marc Stein RT @IAmDPick: Hearing from Croatia camp that at least one member of team has called for coach Jasmin Repesa to step down (DURING TOURNAMENT)
Looking more and more that last year’s EuroBasket showing was a fluke.
Thanks to our stupid loss to Senegal, the game against Puerto Rico is a must-win one for us.
Even then, we might still only finish fourth and have to play Spain in the first round.
Best case for us (assuming we lose to Greece today) is that Greece beats Argentina in their final game and we finish in third (ahead of Senegal) and only have to face Brazil instead of Spain.
Getting hammered by Greece, another early exit looks likely.
hey ziva can we buy the grass online? i’d so put that in my front yard
@ Ziva
Surprised there was any sod left after the Ultra concert and the stoka that graze on the grass during the week
I remember Asanovic saying the following prior to Euro 2008:
“Nema veze koliko Trcas nego kako Trcas. Treba trcati pametno”
“It does not matter how much you run, but how you run. You have to run wisely.”
this week in jock sniffing………….
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/sjajan-marketinski-potez-hajduk-prodaje-dijelove-starog-travnjaka/769187.aspx
Only a jock sniffer would purchase it.
At this point I’m surprised Kovac doesn’t have a stat about words/comments from players to the media related to wins at the World Cup.
in his press conference, kovac also talks about hrgota
says that they had been in contact with his family
eventually with word out in the media, sweden panicked and offered him a spot
he accepted
says he’s disappointed, he should’ve played for croatia
I think everyone agrees that if you run like Germany, good things will happen.
But you can’t point to this as being the sole reason we weren’t successful. No matter how much your team runs, it won’t make up for Pranjić’s errors. He himself ran a lot, especially when he kept making defensive gambles and errors. Didn’t do shit.
Kovač needs to swallow that pride and bench Pranjić.
http://www.24sata.hr/nogomet/niko-kovac-u-hrvatskoj-nema-igraca-koji-mogu-trcati-90-min-382209
Sad ću vam nešto reći, počeo je Niko Kovač sjedeći u zagrebačkom hotelu. Zamišljen, pomalo ljutit izraz lica nagovijestio je grmljavinu.
– Svi mi mislimo da imamo igrače koji su kvalitetni. Slažem se. Ali pogledajte ih trkački. Vidjet ćete da smo na SP-u bili 22. reprezentacija po trčanju! Hej, 22. smo. Utakmicu ne možete dobiti ako ne trčite između 110 i 120 kilometara. Znate koliko mi trčimo? Jedva 105. Točnije, 104 i pol kilometara.
– Znate što to znači? Nemamo igrače koji mogu trčati 90 minuta, imamo snage za 70 minuta. Dinamo je jučer dobio Hajduk jer mogu trčati i igrati 95 minuta, mi ne možemo. Pa Njemačka je svaku utakmicu trčala 10 kilometara više nego mi - rekao je Kovač.
Sve brojke imao je u glavi.
– To je crno na bijelo, tu nema muljaže. Njemačka je protiv Brazila pretrčala 119 kilometara i vodila 5-0 na poluvremenu. A mi 104 i pol. To nije novo, to je običaj Hrvatske. Ne možemo igrati 90 minuta - ljutit je bio Kovač.
Ljutnja nije prestajala ni kad je spomenut napadač Borussije Monchengladbach Branimir Hrgota, koji je trebao igrati za Hrvatsku.
– Mi smo sve dogovorili s njim, pričali s njim, roditeljima. I onda je izašlo u medije da ga želimo i Švedska je odmah “utrčala” i pozvala ga. Eto, sad je odlučio igrati za Švedsku. Razočaran sam i tužan jer je on igrač za Hrvatsku - završio je Kovač.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=238807
“We think that we have a high quality group of players and I agree with that. But an analysis shows Croatia as the 22nd team out of 32 in meters covered by the players in the first three games of the World Cup. If you don’t have the power of repetition, you can’t be successful,” said Kovac about the disappointing run that Croatia had at the World Cup.
Kovac doesn’t feel that there is something wrong with the playing system and the roles of some key players that they have in Croatian national team. For Croatian national coach running is everything.
“The team that wants to be successful has to cover 110 to 120 kilometers per match. It’s simple. It’s pure statistics. We have very good players but so does other teams, too. The main difference is that they can last longer. Germans covered 119 kilometers in the semifinal against Brazil and they had a 5-0 lead at the halftime.”
Kovac, who has to convince Croatian fans with a successful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, wants to earn the direct qualification in a group with Italy, Bulgaria, Norway, Azerbaijan and Malta.
Croatia will start qualifying campaign on September 9 against Malta in Zagreb, at Maksimir Stadium.
One day until the friendly against Cyprus and less than a week until the first 2016 qualifier against Malta – and yet not one comment about either upcoming game.
Pretty much shows that most of us are still so turned off by what happened in Brazil.
Why go by the current form you are in for your club? Hasn’t worked for Croatia. Play the young kids who aren’t spoiled by the money yet.
@ Karadshit
Go back to your steaming shit heap called Serbia, you know the place that no-one wants to go to and the countries biggest export is goats cheese.
So fark off Seljak and back to farking goats !!!!
loss to senegal
hahaahahahahahahaha
how much will croatia lose by when they play Serbia’s Orthodox brother Greece?
easy there ann coulter!
strong finish by cilic today
Good win by Doper Cilic. Legit chance at the semis going against Berdych in the next round.
Cilic won altho took him 5 sets
Marin serving for the 3rd!
1 set all between cilic and simon now as marin wins the 2nd in a tie-break
full lovren segment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ9qr6SdKEQ
Not sure what to make of this team so far. We played like crap against lower tier teams in our first and third game and beat an Argentina side on their way down without Ginobli. So, we haven’t played or beaten any of the top teams yet.
Getting to the semis at the last Euros was a great result and with the likes of Hezonja and maybe Bender down the road, this could be a very good team in the next few years.
Now to tennis……Doper Cilic has a legit chance to get to the semis. Look at the draw, very winnable match against Simon even though Simon has always beaten him. But, all of their previous matches have gone the full distance. So, we shall see if Doper Cilic can make a breakthrough.
@ jm
Šarić is a baller.
He will improve that jumper and will play 3-4 in the NBA.
His handle is tight and has good footwork.
Most important is that he competes.
With Hezonja on his way and Dragan Bender next we will be ready for EuroBasket 2015.
@ Iggy
I trust you have purchased your Liverpool Lovren jersey. Big nights at Anfield await.
Saric has been fun to watch and has SOOOOO much more passion than most of the guys on the team. Cant wait for him to develop
i dont know much about bball i have to confess.. i really dont know much about it other than watching us (as a child) win the silver in barcelona ’92 and being the only team to lead USA etc..
BUT.. Saric has looked really good from what i’ve seen, but as i say im no expert, unlike at football where i can positively affirm Lovren is the best player in the history of the sport : )
read an article how saric played the argentina game with 6 teeth knocked out from a scola elbow
i gotta give it to the kid, he knows how to play!
not sure how he’s effective, but he keeps putting up solid stats and he’s only 20 years old!
the worry will continue to be his alligator arms. he rebounds well, but his jumping ability seems very moderate and his arms look way too short. he’ll be a very unique player if he succeeds
I wonder if Ziva can mention Cilic without using the “D” word prefix 😛
oh well
at least MARIN DA MAN is still carrying on okay.. onya MARIN !
more disappointing than my cock even
i thought we were supposed to be podium contenders or something?
i watched the game and that was fucking horseshit
very disappointing indeed
so, mental midgetacy also extends to hoops in Cro.
Either way, it all comes down to the knockout stage and when we cross over with group A.
Repesa is solid but no big shakes as a coach. He has stabilized our national setup, full respect. Now we need to bring in Rudy Tomjanovic like level to take us into an elite level.
Had a timeout with 19 seconds to go down by three and allows Simon to dribble down and take a contested air ball three. Our out of bounds sets have been producing all game!
Keeps on going big and SLOW!
Need to see a quicker line up for more stretches.
Starting Hezonja out of no where was dum.
Leaving Lafayette on bench during much of 4th q was dummer.
Repesa has that look like he is a “expert.” That is the look of NO innovation because Ja znam sve.
We do not have dominate talent but with world class coaching we could medal.
Finish lower then 3rd and you dead either way.
Wednesday is for all the marbles.
I remember back in the day when Greece was a warm up and now we have to play the game of the tournament to beat them.
Picku materinu!
No emphasis on defense on Croatian basketball, no way they should have lost, have to bring the intensity instead of finesse play
i think croatia thought they could beat senegal easily. so they wanted to rest bogdanovic given that the team players 5 days in a row.
the senegalese big man dieng killed croatia all day long with tomic not able to contain him. zoric might be the worst defender in the history of basketball
Niko kranjcar is back at qpr on a season long loan as well
I saw the game. They could have beaten those Africans but all in all not strong enough. I don’t think they have a chance against teams like Lithuania, France or Spain.
Meanwhile in football world:
Fiorentina announced having agreed with Hamburg on the transfer of Croatian international midfielder Milan Badelj (25). Left Bundesliga side after 2 seasons, the player, if accepting the contractual terms, will be signed on a full basis.